Economists reject rent control: "It is linked to the magical thinking that some have"

• Housing.Berlin and Paris, the European examples of the failure of rental limits

The rent limitation continues to arouse reactions against it despite the fact that the mechanism that the Government will apply is not yet known and there are months before it enters into force.

This time it has been the economists who, unanimously, have shown their rejection of this measure because they believe that it is a short-term proposal that does not solve the problem of access to housing in Spain.

"The control of rents is linked to the

that some have when they think about the economy," said economist

, in a conference organized by the General Council of Economists this Monday.

In his opinion, limiting rents has achieved something that few initiatives achieve: that all economists agree on its ineffectiveness.

"In medicine it would be like cutting the patient's head when he has a headache," he assured.

On the contrary, both García-Montalvo and

president of the Barcelona Chamber of Urban Property who also spoke at the event, believe that the problem of access to housing in Spain requires a "calm" debate on policy of housing in which the socioeconomic analysis prevails "and not the easy approximations".

"Housing policies are expensive and must be maintained over time. The easy thing is to pass the burden on to the private sector", said Ràfols.

Among other things, because within that private sector there are

who each year declare rental income in their accounts with the Treasury.

Effects on the market

According to the president of the Barcelona Chamber of Urban Property, putting limits on rents has already been tried at other times in history here in Spain and is also in force in several European cities but, in any case, it has not yielded the results. expected.

"Rent control has done more harm than good in all the markets in which it has been implemented," he assured.

Among other things, as both experts have pointed out, it causes a

, prevents the renewal of the rental stock and generates an unequal distribution of benefits.

For all these reasons, "a consistent and continuous policy of reinforcing social rent and public-private collaboration would be necessary" to promote affordable rent.

And within that policy would include the construction of a large social housing stock or raising the social spending that Spain allocates each year to housing.

, said Ràfols.

Along these lines, both have rejected the measure imposed two months ago by the Government of Catalonia to cap the price of rents in the most stressed cities.

In Barcelona, ​​one of the points with the highest prices in the country, prices have been declining since the second half of 2019, so Ràfols has not dared to draw conclusions regarding the impact of the measure.

"There is still no data on what part of the current drops are due to a bearish market situation and what part corresponds to the new measures of the Generalitat", he assured.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• economy

• living place

• Rental

HousingThe anti-eviction platforms cross out the new decree of the Generalitat of "farce" and "toast to the sun"

Housing The rent cap hits individuals: only 15% is in the hands of funds and large owners

EconomyThe APIs warn: limiting the rental price will encourage the black market

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