• Baleares Armengol expropriates 56 homes from large owners to use them for social rents

The decision of the Balearic Government to initiate the mandatory transfer of 56 homes belonging to large owners to be used for social rents has unleashed criticism, anger and alerts among the owners themselves and the local and national political opposition.

They believe that such a measure creates

legal uncertainty, scares away investment

and opens the door to the "expropriation" of real estate.

The measure of the Executive led by the socialist

Francina Armengol

intends to make use of these 56 homes over the next seven years, based on Law 5/2018 of June 19, which allows the island government to take over the unoccupied homes that for months it has been registering in a registry of large holders.

The announcement made yesterday has provoked, among other things, the bloc reaction of the Popular Party.

His spokesman,

José Luis Martínez-Almeida,

considers that the measure is something "deeply wrong" and "bad management", as well as "a bad message for the future."

His partner and vice-secretary of Sectorial of the PP,

Elvira Rodríguez

, has warned of the effect on the investment and described as "very worrying" that they want to

"expropriate the use of houses

.

"

"If we legalize

squatting

, control rents and expropriate the use of homes, I don't know how investments will come to Spain."

In these decisions "security is lost", he added.

For her part, the spokesperson for the Popular Group in Congress,

Cuca Gamarra,

has gone further in her comparison and has used the social network Twitter to launch her criticism.

"Exprópierse! Sánchez and Iglesias already have their partner testing laboratory before taking out their Housing Law," he wrote in a message.

"Its failure in a public housing policy cannot be replaced by attacking private property. The more legal uncertainty, the less investment," he concludes.

On the part of the owners, the most severe reaction has come from the side of

Asval

, the Association of Owners of Rental Homes that brings together more than 2,000 members and that considers, among other things, that "this measure

represents an attack on the Right to private property

";

that it is "contrary to legal certainty" and "erodes the image of our country as an investment destination";

that it generates "a lot of noise but that they are not effective and always cause a reduction in the supply of housing" and that in this way, the "Balearic Government places on the owners their responsibility to provide public housing to vulnerable groups".

From

Asocimi

, the association that encompasses a good part of the Spanish Socimis, they warn that Armengol's announcement "endangers fundamental rights such as private property" and can generate "the opposite effect: create legal and institutional insecurity, scare away the investors and make it more difficult to achieve the objective of creating a housing stock of sufficient quality, compatible with the environment, which meets the needs of the most vulnerable segments of the population ", in the words of

Javier Basagoiti

, president of the organization.

At the local level, the

Associació Balear de Serveis Immobiliaris

(ABSI) has warned of the legal uncertainty that the measure unleashes.

In a statement collected by

Europa Press

, the president of the entity,

Antoni Gayà

, pointed out that the Socialist Executive has launched "the worst measure at the worst time" (in the midst of the economic crisis generated by the pandemic) and has warned of which will reduce the investment interest of foreign capital, of great importance for an autonomous community such as the Balearic Islands.

One of the most shared criticisms of initiatives of this type is their "lack of efficiency", as

Antonio Carroza

, CEO of Alquiler Seguro, points out.

"We applaud the policies aimed at allocating public land for the construction of social housing, however, we question the efficiency of depriving legal or natural persons of the use of their properties, finding it difficult for the Administration, in the situation it is in, can guarantee the proper use of these and also face the fair prices, "he points out in statements to this newspaper.

It also adds that this type of policy "will cause a restriction of the rental market, driving away landlords" and will drive away investment.

"With the imminent economic crisis derived from the current pandemic, with the destruction of the business fabric and the huge increase in unemployment, it would be like bleeding a patient with a fever, we will lower the fever, but we will lose the patient," he compares.

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