Access to housing is already one of the main concerns for Spaniards – especially for young people – and in the residential real estate sector they are not very optimistic about finding an immediate solution. Gerard Duelo, president of the General Council of the Official Colleges of Real Estate Agents of Spain (Coapi) believes that the short-termism with which political leaders have looked at the problem has led us to this context in which the shortage of housing for rent and purchase is already generalized throughout the country.
Could you give me an x-ray of the residential market at the moment?
-We are in a bit of chaos. In the chaos also due to the political reflection. We have a Government that cannot govern alone and has to do so with alliances, which also go very far to the left, since the requests for a social issue, such as a certain tolerance in squatting, go beyond logic, which complicates. The other big problem is the lack of housing. If there is no housing, people occupy, as happens in places like Barcelona.
-What has been done wrong? Has the Housing Law represented a lost opportunity?
-Housing is an issue that must be thought about fixing 15 years in advance. This is like the Titanic, when you see the iceberg you can’t do anything no matter how hard you act. In politics, everyone is short-termist. Politics has become a profession and they only look four or eight years ahead. Everything that has been done wrong derives from a myopia of the State in housing. Some things can be appreciated about the Housing Law. But others were better not to be done. A State pact for housing is urgently required. It is very urgent. Essential.
-There are those who say that real estate agents are to blame for high housing prices
-At this moment the lack of housing, both for purchase and rent, is being suffered by all of Spain. When you have little to sell and there is a lot of demand, you have to raise the price. We intermediaries are not happy to earn 600 euros more and see how a person cries for not having reached that amount, when perhaps they need it more than the buyer who took it.
-Are high rental prices truly an effective tool to protect the market?
-A professor at Stockholm University said that the best way to destroy a city, apart from bombing it, is to put a limit on rents. The proof is that after a year and a half after the entry of the Housing law, many owners do not put their homes on the market. There are owners who invest in renovating their home and it is not worth it to put it at a price limited by law.
-Is the concern being exaggerated or is it a real problem established in the market?
-It depends on the place. If we talk about Catalonia, it suffers, but if we talk about Extremadura, it is a phenomenon that is exaggerated. There are things that seem very serious but when you put it into statistics they are 0.5%. What is caused is discrimination with tenants. There is a lack of legislation that goes against the interests of the owners and they become defensive about renting their home. In the absence of certain laws, you are afraid of bringing in someone who does not pay you and who may destroy everything.
-Is focusing on tourist and temporary rentals the solution to add supply to the market?
-We were at the meeting with the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez. We are making progress on some things and we believe that all professionals agree because we are an interested party in reducing society’s problems in this regard.
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