The Government of Catalonia will apply a limitation to the speculative purchase of housing throughout the territory by modifying the urban planning law, once the legal endorsement of the consulted experts has been received. The measure focuses on curbing operations that, according to available reports, contribute to the increase in the cost of access to housing in municipalities such as Barcelona, Girona, and Tarragona.
Political negotiation and approval calendar
The proposal to restrict real estate speculation was registered by the Comuns in the Parliament in November. Since then, the party led by Jéssica Albiach has held four meetings with the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, to negotiate the budgets and advance the housing agreement.
The Government has accepted the path proposed by the Comuns, although it anticipates that other legal modifications will be necessary to adapt the measure to the recommendations of the legal reports. The objective is to approve the budgets before the month of April, according to the calendar that both parties are managing.
Technical review and demands of the Comuns
Sílvia Paneque, Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, has confirmed that the technical team is analyzing how to adapt the text registered by the Comuns to the experts' indications. Paneque has insisted on the importance of guaranteeing the preferential use of built housing.
"We are working on the proposal from the Comuns" - Sílvia Paneque, Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition
"We must ensure that everything that is built has this preferential use"
Los Comuns demand that the limitation on speculative purchasing be in effect within a maximum period of six months. Furthermore, they request details from the Government on the legal mechanism that will allow these operations to be curbed and ask that the rest of the conditions proposed regarding housing, Rodalies, and mobility be accepted.
Agreement on school meal scholarships and next steps
In parallel to the negotiation on housing, the Government and the Comuns have agreed on the granting of 100,000 additional lunch grants in Catalan schools during the next two years. This agreement is added to the ongoing discussions on the legal modifications necessary to limit real estate speculation.
The Government maintains the commitment to adapt the urban planning law and advance in the parliamentary processing in the coming weeks. The measure has the backing of the legal and technical reports consulted, although its definitive application will depend on the legal adjustments that are agreed upon in the Parliament.