Real Estate Experts call for recovering tax incentives for owners to rent apartments

Advise to recover deductions for landlords suppressed in the Tax Reform of 2015, currently in force , and greater legal protection.

The APEI alerts that the situation of the rental of habitual residence has worsened in the last 12 months and extends to all capital cities.

July 2018.- The Professional Association of Real Estate Experts (APEI), a non-profit organization that brings together more than 1,200 real estate agencies in Spain, calls for the restoration of tax benefits for the rental of habitual residence and the promotion of new tax incentives for owners. For this group, this type of fiscal measures would be more effective than the grants and subsidies provided in the current Housing Plan that "often do not end up favoring as much as being persecuted". The Real Estate Experts note that in 12 months the rental situation for the habitual residence in Spain has gone from being a problem of large capitals to progressively spread to all the major Spanish cities, which shows that the aid provided for in the Plan of Housing to promote the rental are not sufficiently effective and advocates to recover the tax incentives for landlords removed in 2015. For this Association, the owners still need greater legal protection before the evictions.

Studies made public in the Last days indicate that the increase in rent in Spain, during the first half of the year, reached 15% with an average price of € 811 per month. These data support the thesis of the APEI on the situation of the rental of habitual residence, of shortage and expensive, in Spain that, according to this association, is reaching all the big Spanish cities. Despite the high performance offered by the rent, it is estimated that there are 3.8 million empty houses in Spain. For the president of the Real Estate Experts, Óscar Martínez, " lack incentives for the owners to take out more flats to rent. The Housing Plan does not favor enough to the owner who can put the apartment for rent ".

The Real Estate Experts insist that" moderation in the prices of the rent will only be achieved if a significant increase in the offer is reached ". Óscar Martínez thinks that " tax benefits for owners should be recovered and even new ones created " and adds that " direct aids and subsidies are not effective enough and often generate picaresque. In addition, to be helps to pay the rent propicia that the prices of the monthly payments go up ".

According to the Professional Association of Real Estate Experts it would be very convenient for the Administration to compensate the owners with assistance in the payment for the IBI, rental insurance and even measures that "help to undertake reforms to improve housing, as often these apartments do not meet the necessary conditions to be inhabited." For Real Estate Experts these measures must be accompanied of a price limitation per m2 of the rent.

Rent of habitual residence, expensive and little: the situation extends

From the Real Estate Experts alerted that the problem of rental in Spain has worsened considerably in the last 12 months. " In July 2017, the increase in rental prices for primary residence affected large capitals and was located, above all, in Barcelona and Madrid.Recent studies on the high cost of rents support this thesis and also point to the fall on the part of young people to access to rent because of the high rents.

For the president of the Real Estate Experts, this fact it shows that the measures foreseen in the Housing Plan based on aid and direct subsidies to the tenant do not solve the situation. It would be very interesting for the government to consider recovering the fiscal incentives prior to 2015, such as the 100% deduction for owners who housed young people under 30 years of age.

Author of the article: Professional Association of Real Estate Experts