Since the alliance between Provivienda and HOGAR SÍ we welcome the initiative of the first housing law in Spain, as we consider that it establishes a general and homogeneous framework and includes key issues to generate an affordable housing policy that can prevent and solve discrimination and inequality.
This regulation articulates a general approach to housing policies that establishes a minimum content for the subsequent development of autonomous for the subsequent development of regional actions without encroaching on their competences.
However, from the alliance formed by Provivienda and HOGAR SÍ, we believe that there is room for improvement in the text currently being processed, in four fundamental aspects:
1. Definitions, in our opinion important, for public housing policies that are absent in the draft law. One example is chronic homelessness, a situation suffered by people who do not have access to or do not stay in stable housing, living habitually on the street or sporadically using non-permanent emergency housing resources. Including this definition is important, since homelessness encompasses a long succession of casuistry that may require differentiated responses both from the field of public policies and from the field of intervention.
2. Taxation to which we are subjected as social housing providers, which places us at a clear disadvantage with respect to for-profit commercial providers. In this regard, we propose to introduce a favorable tax regime for the rental of housing by non-profit entities, provided that they are intended for the homes of the participants in their programs. This special consideration would facilitate the acquisition of housing by non-profit entities, which could more easily provide themselves with residential resources for the development of their programs and, therefore, favor the social use of housing in the leasing process.
3. The way in which the current legislation regulates the renting of rooms, since it generates insecurity and instability for tenants.The way in which the current legislation regulates the renting of rooms, since it generates insecurity and instability for tenants, as well as hindering procedures such as the Minimum Vital Income or access to rental subsidies, in which registration and cohabitation unit are key elements. The leasing of rooms is not expressly regulated in the Urban Leasing Law, so there is no uniform criterion as to the legal regime applicable to this type of leasing. This means that many tenants of rooms are not protected by Title II of the Urban Leases Law and are subject to the agreement between the parties as provided for in the Civil Code.
4. Placing a greater focus on the fundamental role that housing plays in addressing homelessness.. The Housing Act should have among its aims the eradication of the most extreme face of residential exclusion, homelessness, which affects more than 33,000 people in our country, according to data from the Comprehensive National Strategy for Homeless People 2015-2020. Homelessness is fundamentally a housing problem, so housing policies should be aimed at ending this phenomenon, prioritizing solutions based on standardized housing in community settings.
In response to these issues, we have submitted a series of proposed amendments to the proposed amendments to the parliamentary groups and we hope to be able to welcome their introduction into the law in the near future.
You can consult here the complete document of Provivienda's and HOGAR SÍ's amendments to the Right to Housing Bill.
