“We believe that when there is an extraordinary situation, extraordinary measures are required, and when people do not have guaranteed access to housing, purchases that are not essential for life should be limited,” Apesteguia stated, pointing out that the average price of buying and renting have risen in the last five years by 30% and 40%, respectively.
“The real estate market must intervene and put an end to speculation in housing, houses are for living and not for business. Everyone should be guaranteed the right to have a decent place to live,” he said. This bill, he said, should be approved by both the Parliament and the Congress of Deputies as it affects regional competences - those relating to housing - and national competences - those relating to contracts - which, if approved, would strengthen the law in the face of a possible challenge by European institutions.
“We want to send a message to Europe: if we want to ensure that Europe works, we pro-Europeans must ensure that people living in Europe can have a decent life regardless of where they were born or where they want to live. Europe cannot be an obstacle in this way, but it can be a help”, he said. He went on to say that the bill complies with the provisions of the CJEU in cases where the free movement of capital is contravened.
“The general interest is justified in the collapse of the real estate market and the impossibility of accessing housing. It is not discriminatory, because it does not differentiate on the basis of nationality but on the basis of residence. And it is proportional because its application is measured in objective parameters and is temporary”, he said.
If approved, the law would contemplate a twelve-month moratorium for local councils to study the application of the measures, which are not binding on each other. According to Apesteguia, they will be able to decide whether to apply one, two, three or none, depending on the housing needs of the municipality’s inhabitants, and never for a period of more than ten years.
However, in order to adopt the law, it would have to be approved by an absolute majority in the municipal plenary sessions, as long as at least three of the ten parameters set out to prove that the housing market is highly stressed are met. Among them, some stand out, such as the price of buying or renting a property having experienced in the previous five years a growth of at least three percentage points above the rise in the CPI; that the average purchase or rental price is 35% higher than the national average or that of similar territories such as Sicily, Sardinia or Cyprus; or that the purchase price is higher than the average net salary received in a ten-year projection.
Although he stated that this is the ‘most important’ bill to be presented by MÉS per Mallorca during this legislature - the proposal for which was already put forward in the general policy debate - Apesteguia has not revealed whether it has the support of the different parliamentary groups.
7 comments
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Ulla JacksonNo Ulla, the majority of Mallorcans are savvy enough to act in their own personal interests when it is their wallet involved. They are no more saints than anyone else. That is why the push is for regulation, rules that everyone have to obey . Whether its restricting foreign buyers, allowing only residents to buy or having a regulated market like the Channel Islands .Something has to be done in law to control the increasing desire to own a property in Mallorca, otherwise market forces will dictate what we are seeing now, an uncontrolled rise in prices and rents across the board. Those who say its only the top of the market and that doesn't affect the locals are missing the point that as the top rises the rest follows on behind.
tranq tranquerI wish the locals renovatingng properties let them to them to local peole or selling them at a price other local people can buy but do they? You tell me. The locals I know let their properties to foreigners rather than their own. Maybe you know better.
BerlingoWell maybe if you look like a foreigner, speak like a foreigner, dress like a foreigner and act like a foreigner then you probably are a foreigner. Personally I have lived the majority of my life outside Palma and foreignerstan ( Calvia) and I cannot remember one instance of being targeted or feeling uncomfortable . The weirdest I have felt was going into a moroccan supermarket to buy some green tea for the missus.
Well this is a clever MES trick and has been used by them all over the island especiallly in the rural areas to create division and Dislike Feelings towards foreigners and I have to say in many areas it’s worked and has strong roots in many areas you can feel the dislike as soon as they see who you are , the idea is to create strong cells of the local Councils to permanently cause trouble to the PP and the Goverment ,
jørgen koefoedThe native people sold very happily their properties for “overlrices” and now they can’t understand why they can not afford to buy again…. and we are going to make sure they cannot try and right the wrongs of the past. Yes their parents sold land and houses to foreigners, too bad they are stuck with it. Now more than ever foreigners want to buy more of the island and the kids don't like it. Once again tough, we " rich foreigners " are going to keep buying with no control and they are not going to spoil our cash cow. The very idea that locals can have a say on how their land is sold off is ridiculous !
The only extraordinary here is how extraordinarily thick MES are. Their stupidity is truly breathtaking.
Totally crazy and illegal move. Maybe it can have an effect in the low income range say housing upto 500.000 eur but the rest and the luxury market in southwest and actually allover above this level is of no interest to the native inhabitants - so a proposal below that could have a meaning but the rest is a cashcow to the island. The native people sold very happily their properties for “overlrices” and now they can’t understand why they can not afford to buy again….