Pedro Sánchez agrees with Podemos and ERC to give more guarantees to the squatters

The Housing Law, which Congress is expected to approve this Thursday, hinders and slows down the procedure for the expulsion of squatters and tenants who stop paying and, therefore, the consequent return of homes to their owners.. From now on, the plaintiff who initiates procedures for the recovery of his property must “certify” whether or not he is a large holder and whether or not the occupants use the property as their habitual residence.

In the case of large holders, the demands are more acute because they will need to prove the economic situation of the occupant to discern if they are people in a situation of vulnerability.

These requirements, which must be met for an eviction claim to be admitted, will be added to the Civil Procedure Law thanks to a compromise amendment by the PSOE with Unidas Podemos, ERC, Más País, Compromís, the CUP, the BNG and the PDeCAT, approved last Thursday in the Transport Commission that gave the green light to the opinion on the Housing Law project, which will be ratified in plenary session this Thursday and will immediately go to the Senate for final approval.

In said amendment, the Civil Procedure Law is modified through a provision, adding two sections in article 439 in order, among other issues, not to admit from now on “demands, which seek the recovery of possession of a property, in which it is not specified” if “the property object of the same constitutes the habitual residence of the occupant”.

In the same way, the plaintiff must prove whether or not he is a large holder, as defined in the new legislation.. In the case of being so, it will also have to indicate whether the defendant “is or is not in a situation of economic vulnerability” through an evaluation carried out by the regional and local Housing services, and with the prior authorization of the occupant himself.

In addition, large holders will have all claims canceled “in which it is not proven that they have submitted to the conciliation or intermediation procedure established for this purpose by the competent Public Administrations, based on the analysis of the circumstances of both parties and of the possible existing aid and subsidies in the field of housing in accordance with the provisions of the regional legislation and regulations in the field of housing.

On the other hand, the provision includes the obligation to report the “exact day and time” of any eviction. Also in decrees, judicial decisions and other types of notifications, so that the Security Forces and Bodies will not be able to carry out the eviction by surprise or without specifying when.

The opposition has charged hard in recent weeks against this law and the beneficial effect it has, they say, for squatting. A few days ago, precisely, the Economic Observatory of the Francisco de Vitoria University concluded that the new Housing Law obstructs and makes eviction processes more complex, criticized that the text does not fight against squatting and denounced the scant effect that the ceiling will have at the rental price.

Elections

Housing will once again be the political issue this week. On Thursday, Congress will debate and vote on the bill with the modifications that were approved in Commission. This norm is one of the aces of the Government with which it hopes to be able to gain muscle in the final stretch towards the polls. The processing will continue in the Senate and will be very fast since the Executive's intention is to definitively approve the rule before the 28-M elections.

PP sources admit that, despite the vote against that they already anticipate, they will not put sticks in the wheel of the Executive to try to stop or hinder the processing. Rather the opposite: it is a question of cornering the Government with its own law and, in contrast, forcing the Chamber to a close debate in which the axis is the model that the popular ones propose.

Two days before, this Tuesday, the Senate will serve as a prelude: Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo will face each other in the Upper House for the last time before the regional and municipal elections. Despite the fact that the theme of the appearance called by the president deals with international matters, the opposition leader will try to take advantage to portray Sánchez also for his failed housing policy throughout the legislature and confront both models in this matter .

Feijóo's housing proposal pivots on three elements: aid for young people, stimulation to increase the real estate market with affordable rents and effective guarantees against squatting. In this last section, the PP has deployed a range of forceful proposals to the lack of protection with which the new law, according to the opposition, leaves the owners and the scarcity of responses to cases of squatting.

In fact, the popular are reluctant to determine whether, in the event that they manage to reach the Government in December after the general elections, they will proceed to repeal the rule or simply modify the parts they consider most harmful. In the PP they see with good eyes, for example, the catalog of tax deductions proposed by the Executive in the text that this Thursday will be approved in Congress.