Tag: intervention

22 June 2015 – Europa Press

At their first meeting on Friday, Susana Diaz’s new Executive Board approved the launch of the proposed draft bill for the withdrawal of evictions, which will allow the Government to exercise the right of withdrawal in the case of mortgage foreclosures conducted over free (non-subsidised) housing by financial institutions.

The decision was announced by Manuel Jiménez Barrios, the Vice-President of the Government and Minister for the Presidency and Local Government, at a press conference. He explained that the Government may exercise the right of first refusal on purchasing homes or buildings that are subject to mortgage foreclosure or the settlement and payment of mortgage-back debt.

“With the legal alternative of withdrawal, our main objective is to obtain social housing for rent, in order to provide a solution for families that have been deprived of their homes as a result of the eviction process”, said the Vice-President of the Government.

Jiménez Barrios insisted that that Andalucian Government is pursuing a “triple objective”, namely: to enable affected families to stay in their homes; to increase the Government’s stock of public residential housing linked to social policies; and to ensure that there is sufficient supply in the hands of the Administration aimed at vulnerable people and those with special difficulties.

The Vice-President also said that the aforementioned legislation will be rooted in the approval of the Regional Housing Plan, which is now in its final stages; according to his estimates, it will be approved “within the next three months”.

The draft bill also amends the penalty regime in terms of social housing in order to strengthen the protection for consumers on the buy-side of transactions. (…).

The bill establishes the creation of withdrawal areas, where the Government may intervene and whose limits are defined in the Regional Housing Plan. These geographical areas are determined on the basis of the economic situation of resident families, demand for housing, the characteristics of the properties and the historical incidence of evictions in those areas. On an exceptional basis and where duly justified, the withdrawal formula may be applied elsewhere as well.

Moreover, the Regional Housing Plan will specify the socio-economic criteria that people affected by evictions must fulfil to activate intervention by the Administration. Once the withdrawal has been exercised, the affected persons will have the right of first refusal to rent the property that has been their habitual residence. (…).

Original story: Europa Press

Translation: Carmel Drake