Government of Spain expands public affordable housing stock

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

Isabel Rodríguez, Pilar Alegría, and Pablo Bustinduy, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers (Pool Moncloa / Jose Manuel Álvarez)

The Council of Ministers has adopted new measures to facilitate access to housing, the Executive's "main concern", according to the Minister for Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez.

The aim, she added, is to increase the stock of affordable and permanent public housing in the face of a crisis that is affecting the whole of Europe, but which in Spain is aggravated by the lack of a stock. Rodríguez pointed out that in recent years the percentage of public housing stock has risen from 2.5% to 3.4%, which is still far from the European average of 9%. To increase and protect this stock, the Government has created instruments such as the Housing Act and the Public Company for Housing and Land, which will guarantee that all state resources that can be converted into a home will be used for this purpose and no other.

More affordable housing and land for rent

The minister added that while the developments that resolve "this housing emergency" are being developed, extraordinary measures are necessary to make these homes available as quickly as possible. To this end, the Council of Ministers has approved the transfer of the assets of SAREB, the company created in 2012 to manage the troubled assets of deposit institutions affected by the financial and real estate crisis, to the public business entity SEPES, which is in the process of becoming the State Housing and Land Company of the General State Administration.

Affordable rental housing is thereby added to the public housing stock, repairing "the aftermath of the previous financial crisis, the use of these homes from the evictions of families to pay for the financial bailout", in the words of the head of housing. This is one of the announcements made by the President of the Government at the beginning of this year, with the aim of offering these homes to citizens in the form of affordable rents, i.e., below the market price, and in no case more than 30% of the family's income. "In short, it is a question of using what was once used to rescue the banks to rescue families," said Rodríguez.

The Minister for Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, during her speech at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

Housing and the Urban Agenda has assessed all land and real estate owned by SAREB to determine which could be made available to citizens as soon as possible. In total, there are around 40,000 dwellings and 2,400 plots of land where another 55,000 dwellings could be built. The estimated value of the deal is €5.9 billion.

The criteria used were primarily geographical, consisting in the places where there is the greatest need for affordable rental housing, and priority was also given to areas declared to be under stress and those affected by the DANA. The size of the dwellings and the technical and habitability conditions of the properties have also been considered.

The Minister for Housing recalled that the task of building an affordable housing stock began with land owned by the Ministry of Defence, for which a significant budget allocation was established. A second agreement of today's Council of Ministers consisted precisely in enabling the public company to use these resources, amounting to €593 million.

Also in the field of housing, Isabel Rodríguez underlined that the single register of short-term rentals necessary for the commercialisation of tourist accommodation or temporary or room contracts starts to be implemented today. The aim is to offer guarantees to citizens, and above all, to prevent fraud and put a stop to the illegal tourist accommodation that is preventing so many families from accessing housing, said Rodríguez, who reiterated the need for all administrations to get involved in public housing policies.

Future Sustainable Consumption Law

The Council of Ministers has addressed the Draft Bill on Sustainable Consumption, presented by the Minister for Social Rights, Consumption and 2030 Agenda, Pablo Bustinduy, as an "ambitious" regulation that is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the European Green Pact. It also specifies the constitutional precepts on the protection of health and consumers, and the right to enjoy an adequate environment.

The first pillar of the law has to do with 'ecopostureo', the construction of brand images referring to the sustainability of the goods or services being offered that are not based on verifiable data or real practices. Transposing a European directive, the text establishes a system for objectively certifying this type of assessment of a product's qualities or virtues.

The Minister for Social Rights, Consumption and 2030 Agenda, Pablo Bustinduy, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

The fight against planned obsolescence - the intentional shortening of the useful life of products such as household appliances - is the second pillar of the standard. For example, it is prohibited to induce the replacement of elements of a good before it is necessary, and to claim that the use of spare parts not provided by the producer may affect the functioning of a good when this is not true. Software updates are also regulated. For example, it is obligatory to inform that an update will prevent certain programs from opening, or impair the functioning of a computer.

The promotion of sustainability is the third central element of the text. "We are going to intervene in the labelling of goods and products to be able to identify those that have a guarantee of more than two years," the minister explained.

Right to repair and the transition to more sustainable models

The fourth pillar of the law enshrines the right to reparation. Spare parts for a product must be available for up to ten years after it ceases to be manufactured, the warranty period for a good is extended when it is repaired, and producers will bear part of the cost of repairs.

Last, the regulation strengthens the guarantee of consumer rights and encourages the transition towards more sustainable production models. Among many other aspects, advertising that exploits fear as the main emotion is regulated; it is obliged to clearly indicate that the weight of the contents or the number of containers in a product has been altered without changing its price; the resale of tickets for events for a price that is higher than the original sale price plus CPI is prohibited, and the advertising of short flights, solid fuels, and the most polluting vehicles is banned.

Pablo Bustinduy remarked that the philosophy behind the text is "to recognise that the ecological and industrial transition cannot be a sum of individual responsibilities", but that it is necessary to "make the economic system as a whole responsible and to transform the modes of production, distribution and consumption". The minister advocated ensuring that access to sustainable consumption and well-being in times of climate change "is not a question of social class or income capacity, but a universally guaranteed right".

Additional 0.5% increase for 3 million public employees

The Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, during her speech at the press conference after the Council of Ministers | Pool Moncloa / Jose Manuel Álvarez

The Executive has approved the additional wage increase of 0.5% for public employees, with retroactive effect from 1 January 2024. With this measure, which will benefit 3 million workers (civil servants, statutory staff and labour staff), the Government is complying with the agreement with the CCOO and UGT trade unions on wages, which established a 2% pay rise in 2024 and an additional 0.5% increase in line with cumulative inflation in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

The Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government Spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, has framed the increase within the commitment to public services, which is reflected in public employment offers, programmes to attract young talent, and the reinforcement of citizen services by telephone, in person, and telematic means, among other measures.

Other agreements of the Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers has earmarked €55 million to subsidise the production of feature films. The spokesperson of the Executive detailed that these are advance grants for the cost of production of projects with cultural relevance for Spain and Europe. The aim is to "continue to support the film industry and also to facilitate its activity in an open and competitive market", she said.

The Executive has also awarded the Grand Cross of Military Merit with blue badge to Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro, who until 24 June last was the Head of Mission and Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL). "With this recognition we wish to highlight the work of Lázaro, who has been in command of 10,000 blue helmets in this UN, a mission that demonstrates Spain's commitment to peace and which also speaks of the quality of our Armed Forces," Alegría said.

Non official translation