Less ideology and more housing

The opinion of the Council of Statutory Guarantees that we learned about on Tuesday is clear and devastating regarding the legality of the bill that seeks to modify Legislative Decree 1/2010 for the containment of the misnamed "speculative purchase" in tense residential areas. The conclusions of this advisory body are absolutely clear: the norm violates fundamental precepts of current legislation, infringing upon the right to private property (art. 33 CE), the freedom of choice of residence (art. 19 CE), and the freedom of enterprise (art. 38 of the Spanish Constitution), in addition to invading exclusive powers of the State. Faced with such a resounding pronouncement, from the Association of Developers of Catalonia (APCE) we demand the immediate withdrawal of this legislative initiative.

This opinion only confirms what the professional, legal and academic sectors have been repeatedly warning about since its announcement and for too long. As already pointed out by the legal report prepared by professors Dr. Joan Manel Trayter and Dr. Irene Araguàs at the end of last year, attempting to limit or prohibit the purchase of homes or buildings based on the use or profile of the buyer constitutes an unconstitutional interference and a serious attack on the stability of the housing sector.

However, the seriousness of this bill lies not only in its substance, but also in its form. The attempt to process a reform of this transcendence through the direct route of a single reading represents a true legal aberration and an unacceptable disregard for democratic quality. The single reading is an exceptional procedure conceived for simple texts or those of immediate consensus, not for structural reforms that fully impact the residential market, municipal powers and economic activity. To pretend to approve such complex regulation without an in-depth parliamentary debate, without the appearance of experts or the possibility of introducing technical amendments is to close the door to dialogue and ignore the warnings of professionals about the possible short, medium and long-term consequences.

"The housing access crisis that Catalonia is suffering will not be resolved by restricting activity or adding more instability to a regulatory framework"

From the APCE we warn again about the risk of using concepts with a high ideological load such as "speculative purchase". Under this label, productive investment operations that are absolutely necessary to mobilize housing, rehabilitate deteriorated properties, regenerate the urban fabric, as well as generate much-needed jobs in the construction sector, are indiscriminately penalized. Prohibiting or hindering the activity of those of us who transform and improve the housing stock in Catalonia only leads to a result that will paralyze activity, leading to less investment, less rehabilitation, less new development and less available housing.

The housing access crisis that Catalonia is suffering will not be resolved by restricting activity or adding more instability to an already hyper-regulated normative framework. In Catalonia, 25,000 new homes need to be built annually to meet the rate of new household creation, but actual production has historically remained well below this figure, with averages barely exceeding 12,000 homes/year. At the same time, data from the Catalan Housing Agency reflect a continuous loss of private rental housing supply as a direct consequence of regulatory uncertainty and the continuous normative changes we have been experiencing in recent years. Statistics show that the real problem is the structural lack of supply, and that punitive or restrictive measures only manage to worsen the current diagnosis and hinder its solution also for the future.

If this bill is approved, citizens will be the main affected, finding even more obstacles to access housing. As we have repeatedly denounced, housing is not an electoral issue or a weapon to be used with partisan interests; it is a matter for the people, for everyone. Our rulers have the responsibility to understand that housing policies do not need rhetoric or haste, but consensus, rigor, normative stability and public-private collaboration.

For this reason, from the APCE we demand the immediate withdrawal of this bill and ask parliamentary groups for institutional responsibility, dialogue with the sector that builds homes - free, affordable and social housing - and political will so that this withdrawal of the initiative serves to open a serene and rigorous parliamentary process, where all involved actors are included to promote real policies that increase supply and guarantee access to housing for all citizens of Catalonia.