Spain’s government aims to re-approve housing laws before election
Spain’s left-wing government wants to use the dissolution of parliament which occurs when a snap election is called to re-approve the housing crisis decrees that were rejected on Friday, thus offering temporary protections to millions of tenants.
The Spanish government intends to re-approve the housing decrees that parliament rejected last Friday at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
With the Spanish Parliament dissolved due to the snap general election in late November – announced by Pedro Sánchez on Monday – the ratification of these housing decrees no longer has to take place in parliament, the place where MPs voted the bills down on Friday.
Instead it is the Standing Committee, the body that assumes some of the Chamber’s functions when parliament is dissolved, that handles the decrees’ approval if they’re put back on the table.
This changes the playing field as the Standing Committee has 69 members, whereas the Spanish parliament has 350 seats.
Therefore, Catalan separatist Junts would no longer be as decisive as they were on Friday’s vote, having changed their minds practically at the last minute when joining other right-wing parties in voting ‘no’ against the government’s housing crisis measures.
However, it still won’t be completely smooth sailing for the PSOE-Sumar government, who will have to garner support from their own party members and allies.
The first decree could pass if it retains the support of Basque parties PNV and EH Bildu, Catalonia’s ERC, and hard-left Podemos, tipping the balance to 35 votes in favour versus 34 against.
This is the decree that contains measures such as a moratorium on evictions until 2030, two-year rental extensions for contract expiring before the end of 2028, restrictions for so-called vulture funds and a crackdown on seasonal and room-by-room contracts. It also included tax incentives and aid for tenants, as well as loans for first-time homebuyers.
The second decree proposed the automatic renewal of rental contracts. This one would still face greater difficulty in being ratified by the Standing Committee because the PNV already opposed it in Friday’s parliamentary vote.
For Spain’s nine million tenants, the potential revival of these housing decrees means the immediate reactivation of strong protection measures for them, but also a scenario of legal uncertainty.
In other words, an eviction that’s scheduled to happen could be prevented from happening, a contract that’s due to expire could be renewed under the same conditions, or an investment firm that’s about to buy a block of flats could be barred from doing so.
However, these rights could end up being repealed after the general election on November 29th, even if a right-wing bloc formed by the PP and Vox doesn’t gain power, as left-wing parties could well end up with a frail parliamentary minority again.
Spain’s Standing Committee must vote on these two decrees within the next 31 days.
