Some 13,000 homes in Catalonia are in the hands of Sareb, the mostly publicly owned asset management company created as a result of the economic crisis that began in 2008 and through which several banks were rescued. By law today it is required that 15% of its housing stock have social use in the form of rentals. But the Parliament of Catalonia is finalizing a pioneering rule so that this social criterion increases up to 80% in the form of transfer of ownership (that is, sale) to public administrations, basically city councils and autonomous communities, and thus return the effort to citizens. , since the rescue was made with public money.
ERC presented the proposal a few years ago, but the call for Catalan elections for February 2021 caused it to decline. He has recovered it for this legislature and has the consensus of Junts, the CUP and the commons. The majority is guaranteed for next week’s plenary session of the Catalan Chamber, since everything indicates that the PSC will abstain. The socialists have participated in the work on the presentation of the law and have maintained an active attitude, so the rest of the groups do not expect them to take a position against it.
In any case, the new law, after being approved in Parliament, will travel to Congress, where it will be studied, debated and, if necessary, endorsed with the modifications considered necessary. It is a journey that has already been taken, for example, by the euthanasia law.
The norm that will emerge from Parliament is ambitious. In addition to this 80% transfer of ownership to municipalities and autonomous communities, it also claims that 50% of the developable land is in the possession of Sareb. These percentages will not be limited to the moment when the law ends up being passed, but will be adapted to the new additions of homes that Sareb may have through future rescued entities.
Esquerra presented a first initiative that sought to request 30%, but in the commission work the agreement “became richer,” in the words of the Republicans.
Until today, Sareb transfers homes as a transfer for social use, with a rental that is maintained most of the time for up to ten years, but with the obligation to return the properties, so that the municipalities stopped counting on the transfer of the years with homes that had required a significant economic effort for their rehabilitation or adaptation. The bad bank made a profit in the end.
ERC appeared before the media this afternoon. Marta Vilalta, spokesperson for the Republicans, has assured that the norm aims to “return to the people what belongs to the people” and has urged Congress to “respect the consensus of the Parliament.” For his part, the party’s speaker, Jose Rodríguez, has expressed confidence that the PSC will not create obstacles. “The attitude of the PSC has been constructive, it does not bring live amendments to the plenary session and it abstained from voting on the opinion and the presentation,” he assured, so “everything suggests that in the next plenary session they will abstain.” For this reason, Republicans are sure that the PSOE will approve the norm in Congress.
