Raquel Sánchez (Gavà , 1975) has just closed the first state Housing law after three years of intense negotiations. She affirms that it was the “great pending issue” of the Government. She speaks to La Vanguardia on the eve of the mobilization of almost 50,000 Sareb homes for social rental to defend before the PP, the real estate employers and investment funds that it is “a good” rule.
We are already on the cusp of a new electoral cycle that will be decisive, with the municipal and regional elections in May and the general ones in December. And the Government places the problem of access to decent housing as a great political priority.
The approval of the Housing Law is a milestone in the history of this country, it is the first law in the history of democracy, which aims to guarantee that what the Constitution includes, the right to decent and affordable housing, is a reality . Until now it was impossible for a majority of families and young people in our country. With this law, which contemplates many measures, we intend to ensure the exercise of that right. In addition, with measures such as the one approved today, to mobilize 50,000 Sareb homes, we continue to consolidate and expand the public housing stock, which is very meager and not because public housing had not been built, but because once built, for the liberalizing land policies of the PP and due to obeying other interests, the sale of public housing to vulture funds was facilitated. In this mandate, we have multiplied by eight the budget allocated to housing, from 425 million that the PP allocated to almost 3,500 million, we are developing housing through the public entity Sepes and we are laying the bases and foundations with the law so that we can make possible the constitution of a much-needed public park.
Sareb currently has some 47,000 homes in its portfolio. How will the model be configured and in what period will they be available for social rental?
Since we assumed public control of Sareb in recent months, 14,000 social rental contracts with vulnerable families have been regularized. There is also a package of 21,000 homes that will be made available to the autonomous communities and town halls, so that they can also be used for social rental. And, on the other hand, it is planned to mobilize the land owned by Sareb so that public housing can be built. The maturation periods will be different, there will be different speeds.
At what stage are the 21,000 homes that will be made available to communities and town halls?
Some are already ready to be inhabited, others are missing some paperwork or some rehabilitation work. There are different degrees. The current state housing plan provides aid programs for communities and town councils so that they can take over Sareb homes and undertake renovation works if the home needs it.
Where are the houses located?
Most of them are located in Catalonia, the Valencian Community and Andalusia, communities where there is also a problem of access to housing and there are stressed areas.
Is there a sufficient bulk of housing in the center of cities to cover a part of the demand for social rent?
Sareb has homes where it does. But there are many other measures that have been articulated, for example, through the affordable rental plan, which plans to build more than 100,000 homes that we can allocate to affordable rent, the state housing plan, or the recovery plan funds, with 1,000 million euros to build up to 20,000 social rental homes. In Madrid, the Campamento operation is going to be very important, on Defense soil.
The Prime Minister set the goal of reaching 20% ​​of the public housing stock. In what time can it be achieved?
The Housing Law establishes a horizon of being able to reach that 20% of social housing in the stressed areas in the next 20 years. At present, they are barely 2.5% or 3%. The objective is to assimilate ourselves to neighboring countries, over 9%, in the medium and long term. We need time, but the foundations are being laid, and we have the wickers, because we are making all the resources available to public administrations, and we are agreeing with the private sector and third sector entities. We have changed and laid the foundations for a new housing paradigm in our country, which was a pending issue.
Why have these plans taken so long to start, when building public housing takes time?
We have not been late. Since we started this mandate, we have been mobilizing and building public housing. I would like to remind you once again of the construction plan for 100,000 affordable rental homes, of which we have already activated around 60%. With the banks we have also set up a social fund with 11,000 homes available to the most vulnerable families and groups.
Why do you think that capping rents and intervening in prices in stressed areas will be an effective measure? It has received a lot of criticism from the PP.
The PP has criticized this law since before knowing its content. But neither do I think that the PP is the most appropriate to give classes on housing policies. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, during the ten years that he ruled Galicia, only made 3,000 public homes available to the public, when in the previous decade 27,000 public homes had been built in Galicia. The contrast speaks for itself. The PP whenever it could favored the real estate funds and practiced the policy of selling the public housing stock to the vulture funds. Now he says that the Housing law will be useless, for he also said that the labor reform was going to destroy employment, that the pension reform was going to put the sustainability of the system at risk and predicted the economic apocalypse for our country. I predict little future for the PP as a guesser of what is going to happen. The objective of the Housing law is not solely and exclusively to contain disproportionate increases in rental prices in stressed areas. We are also introducing tax benefits so that it pays off for small landlords to rent affordable. In other words, incentives that will mean that what you save or the benefit you obtain in rent is greater than the benefit you can obtain if you increase the price. They are balanced measurements.
The bosses criticize the price cap and its president, Joan Clos, says that it is not progressive. Do you consider capping prices progressive?
Yes of course. In addition, this law has had the endorsement of the progressive forces of this Government. It will be a measure that will help prevent price increases from being exorbitant and uncontrolled, which expel most people from being able to access and pay rent. Therefore, yes, I believe that it is progressive to approve measures that favor the most vulnerable, young people and those whom the market has expelled from access to housing.
Why have they not introduced some type of regulation of tourist rentals in the Housing Law?
Because it is a matter that is not the responsibility of regulating this ministry. The regulation of the same corresponds to the autonomous communities and also to the city councils that in their municipal ordinances have to make the regulation and the declaration of the uses that the houses can have. That is why it is not subject to the law. Each administration has to develop the responsibilities assigned to it.
What will the index for price updates be like from 2025?
It will be a new index. We have established the maximum update this year at 2%, and in 2024 at 3%. The INE will be in charge of preparing this index and determining its methodology in order to define an index that, above all, has to respond much better to the behavior of the real estate market. This index has to guarantee that disproportionate increases in rents do not occur as they have occurred recently.
What is the great political message that the Government is trying to convey to the public with its housing policy?
This Government is where it needs to be, protecting the vast majority and responding to what was a pending issue in this country, which is the right to housing. Despite the noise, the balance of government results is positive, we have approved more than 200 laws and we are managing to turn this country around. We have shown that the economy is also managed well from the left, but no one is left behind, no one is let down. The politics of consensus has triumphed. Despite the adversities, we are showing that progress can be made, that this country can be competitive, and we have shown it with all the reforms that we have carried out during this legislature. We are going to approve a Housing Law that will make it possible for the private sector to continue investing in our country, and that they will also obtain returns, and that it is possible to protect small property owners, but above all it is to have a dignified life and access to decent and adequate housing.
Does this new Housing law and the social rental program reaffirm the coalition government between PSOE and Unidas Podemos after the confrontation suffered by the sexual freedom law?
We are talking about different laws. From the first moment we promised to approve a Housing law and we have worked tirelessly on it. We did it. Regarding the law of yes is yes, it is important to recognize that some unwanted effects have occurred and that the necessary measures must be adopted to correct them. But I would like to celebrate this Housing law.
What is the status of the dialogue with the Generalitat de Catalunya regarding the transfer of Rodalies?
We are working with the Generalitat. We understand that we go further if we sit down and negotiate things point by point. We do not know very well what the request for the full transfer of Rodalies is based on and what it contains. What we have transferred time and again to the Generalitat is that we sit down and talk about Rodalies, about how we can improve the service. It is important to value the investments, more is being invested than ever. And we have yet to sign the program contract, so that the holder of the service, which is the Generalitat, can establish the conditions that it asks of the Renfe operator so that it can provide the service to citizens. Outstretched hand and willingness to work. Let’s sit down and talk about what’s next, which is the signing of the program contract.
Do you believe, as a Catalan leader, that the public will endorse Pedro Sánchez’s dialogue process with Catalonia in the new electoral cycle?
I think so. We Catalans and Catalans live it and breathe it. The Catalonia of today has nothing to do with that of 2017 and that is due to the commitment of the President of the Government to redirect, rebuild the bridges of dialogue, use politics to solve political differences and get to work to resolve things about eating. I believe that the citizens of Catalonia will recognize that it has been the efforts of the President of the Government that have allowed them to emerge from this paralysis, from that certainly sad and dark stage. Now we are all thinking about the new opportunities that we cannot miss.
Will the dialogue agenda be an asset in the rest of Spain or could it pose a threat?
I have no doubt about it. Spain is doing better if Catalonia is doing well, like the rest of the autonomous communities. It has been a road that has been traveled and that has been worth it. A few years ago, the Spanish considered that one of the main programs was the situation of political confrontation between the Government of Spain and the Catalan one. If that is not so worrying now, it is because the citizens understand that it is a problem that has largely been dissolved. Catalonia is frankly much better now.
What are your expectations that Barcelona will once again have a socialist mayor?
All the confidence in Jaume Collboni. I think he represents the change that Barcelona needs and I think he is managing to convey that message. Barcelona deserves to be the city that we have all known, that recovers opportunities and does not lose them. Jaume is the mayor who has to do what other socialist mayors have done, place that city as a benchmark in the world. He plays again a socialist mayor in Barcelona.
The re-election of Pedro Sánchez after the generals will have to go through the unity of the political space to the left of the PSOE. Do you see Vice President Yolanda DÃaz with options to achieve it?
I hope it is so. It would be desirable for all the options to the left of the PSOE to be capable of adding and reinforcing the majority of the left that has allowed the formation of the first coalition government. I believe that, despite the noise, the balance of results is positive. We have passed over 200 laws and managed to turn this country around on many issues. I would like to think that it would be possible to reissue it. People know what the PSOE project is and we would like that space on the left to join forces.
What conclusions have you drawn from the internal audit at Renfe and Adif on the trains in Asturias and Cantabria?
We have not yet completed that analysis. What we do have is that commitment agreed with the presidents of Asturias and Cantabria to try to amend a delay. We agreed to put measures on the table so that the Cantabrians and Asturians can partially cushion the damage. We have presented a CercanÃas plan, we have approved the fare integration and we have promised to speed up the manufacture of these trains, in addition to increasing the number of units.
Do you already have a delivery date?
By this summer we would already have the design and the idea is to be able to start manufacturing the trains at the end of the year. We anticipate the delivery of the first units in 2026.
