Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been one of the few success stories for the left amid a global right-wing swing, and his latest move to tackle the housing crisis has gained the approval of a Dublin TD.
On Monday, Sanchez, leader of Spain’s governing PSOE party, announced a 100% tax on homes bought by non-EU residents.
Like other European countries, Spain is battling with a housing crisis, with last summer seeing protests on Spanish streets calling for the government to tackle the housing crisis by cracking down on the likes of AirBNB.
“The West faces a decisive challenge: To not become a society divided into two classes, the rich landlords and poor tenants,” he said in comments translated by the BBC.
Sanchez’s methods have been praised by newly-elected Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne, who has called on the incoming government to “follow Spain’s lead.”
He said that Spain provides a blueprint “to tackle some of the root causes of the housing crisis.”
The Dublin North-West TD said, “while some of the Spanish prime minister’s radical proposals are specific to Spain – such as punitive tax measures to clamp down on the high number of properties in tourist areas being purchased by non-EU investors – there are other parallels with Ireland’s housing challenges, including skyrocketing rents and a chronic shortage of affordable homes.”
“In Ireland, there are many measures that previous governments could have taken, but did not, to make a real difference to the lives of people trying to rent or buy a home.”
“In my constituency and across Dublin, we have seen a proliferation of high-rise unaffordable rental properties being built or bought up by institutional investors. This is all down to generous tax breaks for vulture funds, which should be abolished by the incoming administration.”
Hearne called for the ban of the bulk purchase of homes, such as apartments, by investment funds.
He said that this measure could be achieved by introducing a 100 per cent stamp duty rate on vulture funds to deter them from snapping up multiple properties in housing estates or apartment complexes.
“The long overdue regulation of short-term lets, which would bring an estimated 12,000 properties back into the long-term rental market, must also be expedited,” he said.
“In addition, the Social Democrats will continue to push for a vacancy tax with teeth to discourage owners from sitting on empty houses that could be brought into use for rent or purchase.
“The real tragedy of Ireland’s housing crisis is that there are obvious solutions to many of the barriers faced by those struggling to find a home of their own – the only thing lacking has been the political will to make the right choices.”