Public housing project in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca

Ninety-nine VPO protected housing properties in Santa Ponsa. | J. Mora

Andrew EdePalma28/03/2023 09:11
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A key aspect of housing legislation that the Balearic government has wished to see introduced concerns the capping of rents in so-called stressed areas. Much of the Balearics could be categorised as stressed, but this would depend on the definition of stressed and the equation used. It is determined by average incomes in a given area and average percentages of income that are dedicated to paying rents. Exact formulas haven't as yet been agreed.

At Monday's post-cabinet meeting press conference, government spokesperson, Iago Negueruela, and vice president, Juan Pedro Yllanes, referred to the main problem faced by people in the Balearics - housing. They both defended measures that the government has adopted, but Yllanes conceded that further necessary measures will have to wait for the next parliament and government.

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The vice president said that housing law is entering a "definitive" stage and therefore the adoption of measures "that cannot be taken now". He stressed that the whole housing issue goes beyond the construction of VPO protected social housing, for which there is specific legislation, and to law that will enable the expansion of public housing.

He added: "We will have to wait for the next few weeks or the next few months for the law to be approved. I am sure that the government after the May 28 election will have a better opportunity to take action on this matter."

Left to its own devices, the Balearic government would probably have moved ahead with rent capping, but it has been unable to as this is an issue for national law. In this respect, legislation has been dogged by months of disagreement between the two Spanish government partners, PSOE and Podemos, and other parties which generally support the government.