Spain restricts tenant evictions until 2030 — Cyprus Mail
In Spain, emergency housing measures prohibit owners of more than two properties from evicting tenants until 2030. The documents also provide for the automatic extension of rental contracts and a rent freeze for all landlords, Cyprus Mail reports.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the new rules are intended to counter so-called “vulture funds” — investors whom activists associate with buying up housing and raising rents. Over the past five years, rental rates in the country have risen by 44%, while housing prices have increased by 58%.
New criteria for large property owners
The 2023 Housing Law restricted the activities of “large property owners” — individuals or companies owning at least 10 properties. The new decrees lowered this threshold to five properties in areas with housing shortages. Such owners were prohibited from buying real estate for less than 70% of its market value.
The debate over who should be considered a “vulture fund” was intensified by the case of 87-year-old Madrid resident Maricarmen Abascal. According to the tenants’ union, after acquiring her apartment, Urbagestión raised her monthly rent from €570 to €1,650 — an amount exceeding her pension. According to court documents, the company went to court after the expiry of a regulated-rent contract. Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez called Urbagestión a “small or medium-sized vulture enterprise.”
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Disputes over market consequences
According to the Bank of Spain, companies, including investment funds, own only 8% of the rental market. Nearly half of the rental housing stock is owned by single-property owners. According to research by the Esade Center for Economic Policy, large owners account for 3.6% of the market segment owned by individuals.
Evictions increased after the pandemic-era law protecting vulnerable tenants expired in March. According to the Tenants’ Union, about 70,000 eviction rulings were resumed afterward. Social organizations said the new measures apply to nearly 5 million people, including 122,683 people facing eviction.
At the same time, the National Federation of Real Estate Agents’ Associations reported that 2,067 properties were withdrawn from long-term rental after the decree was adopted, while another 1,523 contracts were suspended. Jorge Galindo, director of Esade’s Center for Economic Policy, believes the rules could worsen the shortage of rental housing in the long term.
