Tag: Government

The Government Allows Real Estate Companies to Open from Monday but Prohibits Home Visits

Real estate companies are resuming their activity two months after they were forced to shut down, when the State of Emergency was decreed, in a market that has been completely transformed.

Since yesterday (Monday), real estate agencies have been resuming their normal activity as part of the first phase of the “Plan for the transition to a new normal” designed by the Government.

Amongst these companies, the most common measures that they have established include shifts in their offices, where plastic partitions have been installed to separate clients and workers, as well as requesting the use of gloves and masks. Regarding physical visits, although the Government initially said that they would be resumed from 4 May with security measures, in the end it has backed down. Now, the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda has assured that home visits will be allowed from 11 May.

The Large Owners of Retail Premises Request Aid and Loans Similar to those for Housing

Asipa has criticised the Government for not introducing direct aid or loans for the rental payments on commercial premises, similar to those provided for rental housing.

Asipa has criticised the Government for not introducing direct aid or loans for the rental payments corresponding to commercial premises, similar to those provided for rental housing.

On Tuesday, the Government approved a decree that allows self-employed people and SMEs that have closed their businesses due to coronavirus to postpone the payment of the rent on the commercial premises that they have leased for up to four months, if the landlord is a large owner.

The Government Approves the Deferral of Rental Payments on Commercial Premises

The proposal from the Ministry of Economic Affairs distinguishes between small and large owners to establish the aid.

On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved the establishment of a moratorium on the rental payments of commercial premises linked to business activity, according to Nadia Calviño, the Vice President of Economic Affairs, at a press conference following the Government’s meeting.

“The procedure established will allow the parties to reach agreements to modulate these payments and will facilitate the continuity of their commercial activities,” detailed a statement from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Deutsche Hypo: Spain’s RE Market Records Highest Growth in Europe

7 May 2019 – Cope

The Spanish real estate market recorded the highest growth in Europe during the first quarter of 2019 (3.8%) with respect to the previous quarter, to reach 199.3 points, according to the Deutsche Hypo Estate Economy Index (Reecox). Moreover, the Spanish real estate sector is forecast to grow by more than the European average this year (2.1%).

The Director of Deutsche Hypo’s branch in Madrid, María Teresa Linares, says that “the formation of a stable Government will be fundamental for ensuring economic consolidation and the adoption of the reforms necessary over the long term”.

The Reecox index reflects the quarterly evolution of the real estate markets in Germany, France, Great Britain, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands on the basis of five variables.

Original story: Cope 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

The Government Puts the Eurocis Complex in Central Madrid up for Sale for c. €196M

16 March 2019 – Crónica Global

The Spanish Government has authorised the sale by public auction of a set of offices, storerooms and garages in central Madrid, known as the Eurocis complex. The complex, which comprises 94 registered assets spanning an office surface area of 45,937 m2, plus 396 parking spaces, 1 commercial premise and seven underground storerooms, is located in the Salamanca district in the block bordered by Calles María de Molina, Núñez de Balboa, General Oraá and Castelló.

The asking price is €196 million and candidates have two months to submit their offers in closed envelopes. Until last year, the complex used to house several departments of the Ministry of Finance, but its urban planning classification means that it could be used for private purposes in the future. The future buyer is expected to completely renovate the building and convert it into modern offices or a large shopping centre.

Original story: Crónica Global 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

The Government’s New Rental Act Limits Annual Price Increases to CPI

1 March 2019 – Eje Prime

On Friday, the Government approved a new Rental Act containing urgent measures for the rental sector, including a limit on annual price rises for new contracts to CPI. However, in the end, no IBI rebate incentive was included to reward landlords for maintaining rental prices below the reference price index.

The measure to limit rental price increases will take effect for new contracts signed from the date that the law enters into force.  Moreover, the law provides for the preparation of a state-managed house price reference index within eight months, which will be updated annually.

In addition, the law extends the period for extending rental contracts to five years, from the current term of three years.

Original story: Eje Prime

Summary/Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Real Estate Sector Condemns the Government’s New Rental Act

1 March 2019 – Ok Diario

The real estate sector has expressed its widespread disapproval of the Royal Decree Law approved by the Government on Friday containing urgent measures for the housing and rental sectors.

Investment funds, real estate experts and rental associations alike have all condemned the new law as discriminatory, restrictive and short-termist.

Claudio Boada, Head Consultant at Blackstone España, said that the new legislation will undoubtedly result in more upwards pressure on prices and a reduction in supply, whilst sources at Fotocasa criticised the lack of tax incentives for landlords who rent their homes at affordable prices.

If this royal decree is ratified, then “rental contracts will have been subject to three different sets of rules in less than three months”, observed Gustavo Rossi from Alquiler Seguro, which is both confusing and unsustainable.

Original story: Ok Diario 

Summary translation by: Carmel Drake

PSOE & Podemos to Save the Rental Reform without Price Limits

27 February 2019 – Cinco Días

Despite the initial disagreements and failures, all indications are that the Government and Podemos are going to end up rescuing the Rental Act. The Executive is expected to present new text to the Council of Ministers on Friday, which will not include limitations on rental prices, but which will reflect significant changes with respect to the text that was toppled a month ago. Those changes include: the compilation of an official price index in large cities; updates to rents subject to CPI; and greater guarantees against evictions, according to reports from El País yesterday.

The draft being finalised by the Executive does not include any measures regarding limits on rental price increases, but it does propose compiling some official price indices to serve as a tool for autonomous regions to establish their own housing policies, since they have the authority in this regard.

Podemos, a key partner to enable the validation of the Act regards this measure as insufficient but sources in the party acknowledge that they would have to concede to save the other improvements proposed by the text and reverse the harmful measures introduced by the PP in 2013. One option being considered is an 80% discount on the IBI charge for those owners who comply with the price index (…).

Another feature of the new text is that the update to rental prices during the term of a contract may only be subject to CPI, something that used to be included in the Urban Rental Act until the PP eliminated it in 2013.

The Act also recovers the increase in the duration of contracts from three to five years, or seven in those cases where the owner is a company, but also adds that all contracts will be valid, regardless of whether they are registered in the Property Registry (…). Another initiative included in the draft text, to provide greater security to tenants, are the notice periods for the non-renewal of contracts, which increase from one to four months in the case of owners and from one to two months for tenants.

The new regulation will also include enhanced guarantees against evictions (…).

Original story: Cinco Días (by E.C.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Rental Contracts Will Be Governed by the Urban Rental Act Again From 23 January 2019

22 January 2019 – El Confidencial

Rental contracts that are signed from tomorrow will again have a duration of three years, regardless of whether the landlord is a physical person or a legal entity. Also, landlords may require future tenants to provide more than one month’s deposit, as well as any additional guarantees that they consider appropriate, either in cash or as a bank guarantee.

Royal Decree-Law 21/2018, dated 14 December, governing Urgent Measures in terms of Housing and Rents, published in the BOE on 18 December, has had a very short life, given that it has not been ratified by Congress today, in such a way that all of the rental contracts that are signed from tomorrow onwards will be governed once again by the Urban Rental Act (LAU) approved in 2013. The result of the vote was 103 votes in favour versus 243 votes against, plus one abstention.

In the way, the Government has today suffered its first major defeat in Congress, after the majority of representatives voted no to the law on rental, which was only supported by the PNV and PDeCAT in the end. The decree was completely rejected by Unidos Podemos, which was not happy that the Executive had ignored its main demand to move forward with the budgets: to limit rental prices in those markets with greatest tensions and highest prices. PP, Ciudadanos and ERC joined the Purple Party in their rejection of the decree (…).

All of this means that for practical purposes, the rental market will once again be governed in accordance with the legislation set out in the LAU of 2013, whilst all of those contracts that were signed following the approval of the royal decree in the BOE to date will continue in force in accordance with the provisions thereof.

Three-year contracts and larger deposits

The parties may negotiate freely regarding the duration of contracts, nevertheless, the obligatory extension of those contracts shall be three years. In other words, although a landlord and tenant sign a one-year contract, the tenant will have the right to extend that contract for a total of three years. The tacit extension, in other words, after those three years, and provided the parties are in agreement, shall be one year.

“The landlord can demand whatever deposit he wants for the rental of a home; the decree law limited that figure to two months. In this way, the owners of flats will be able to continue to ask for bank guarantees or bank deposits, as well as a normal deposit”, explained Francisco Javier Fajardo Fernández, Professor of Civil Law at the University of Navarra (…).

Regarding those parties who have signed a rental contract in the last 35 days, he indicates that “it would be normal for citizens to sign rental contracts for a year, but those that have signed contracts in the last 35 days could be subject to a mandatory extension of up to five years. The law would cover them, although it is possible that some landlords will want to modify their contracts to apply the current law (…).

“Contracts signed between 18 December and 22 January shall be subject to a special regime with respect to the contracts signed from tomorrow onwards (…)”, said the Professor from the University of Navarra.

The return of the law from 2013 also means that landlords will be able to recover their property to use it as a permanent home in certain cases after the first year of the contract term (…).

Rental updates

On the other hand, regarding updates to rental prices, another controversial topic, according to the royal decree, if the contract does not explicitly specify that the rent will increase each year, then there shall be no rent increase. By contrast, under the law from 2013, even though the contract does not specify it, rental prices are updated each year in line with CPI – the typical rate used – or the index specified – and, if there is no mention of any index, the consumer guarantee index (IGC), approved by the Disindexation Law of 2015 (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Revised Legislation: Socimis to Pay Tax of 15% on Retained Profits

11 January 2019 – Expansión

The General State Budgets for 2019, which are going to be approved by the Council of Ministers today (Friday) and which are going to be presented to the Congress on Monday, will include a tax charge on the undistributed profits of Socimis, to which a tax rate of 15% will be applied, according to reports made by sources speaking to this newspaper. The measure was agreed between Podemos and the Tax Authorities although the Government did not include it in the Budget Plan that it sent to Brussels in October or in the draft bills that are already being processed. The General Secretary of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, blames the Socimis for the “rental bubble”.

This measure follows other initiatives agreed with Podemos, which cause the greatest impact of the increase in taxes set out in the budgets to fall on companies: they include a tax of 5% on overseas dividends and the imposition of a minimum taxable base of 15% in terms of Corporation Tax, which will be added to the draft bills to create the Google tax and the Tobin tax.

Socimis (Listed Public Companies for Investing in the Real Estate Market) were created by Zapatero’s Government in 2009 to revitalise the real estate market. They enjoy a very beneficial tax regime. The rate of Corporation Tax applicable to them is zero, provided they fulfil a series of requirements: their minimum capital stock is €5 million, which may be invested in a single property; a minimum of 80% of the profits obtained from rental must be distributed in the form of dividends; and a minimum of 80% of the value of the assets in urban buildings must be leased for three years. For the rents received from other types of activities, the Socimis have to pay tax at a rate of 25%.

From now on, a tax rate of 15% will have to be paid on all of the profits not distributed by these types of entities.

“We need to discourage the promotion of these types of companies that promote the bubble model, undermine the public coffers and represent a grievance for competition. We consider that the special regime afforded to the Socimis, whose main feature involves a tax rate of 0% for Corporation Tax, needs to be reversed”, said Podemos in a recent document. It regards it as “necessary to reverse Government policy, based on forcing tax regulation to create a tax haven for companies that promote a new housing bubble”.

Original story: Expansión (by Mercedes Serraller)

Translation: Carmel Drake