This observatory will be carried out within the Housing and Urban Planning Commission of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), of which Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado is president. “It will be a Rigorous observatory based on data, not opinions. We are not only going to analyze the behavior of prices at the national level, but also the evolution of supply, which is what ends up determining it,” Beatriz Toribio explained during the meeting.

This is not the first time that the APCE has promoted a study to measure the consequences of regulations in the residential market. As its president has confirmed, it was already carried out after the approval of the Catalan housing law. After collecting information, they certified that 30% of the apartments on the rental market had been withdrawn in the region.

According to the general director, the intention is use public and private data sources. “We are looking at how to organize it so that it has a lot of scientific rigor. Whenever we talk about rent, we talk about prices, but other parameters must be taken into account. We do not want to advance too much because we are taking the first steps,” he added.

Also, during the meeting, the spokespersons of the employers’ association that brings together the main housing developers and builders They positioned themselves against the regulation approved in May by the Congress of Deputies: “It will have a different result than what is proposed.” However, they confirm that the study on the route of the norm will be carried out based on scientific rigor, beyond the opinion of the Government, with which they claim to have very good harmony, which was reflected in a meeting between Gómez-Pintado and the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, just a few days ago.

Land Law, VAT and financing

The APCE has placed duties on the different administrations to improve accessibility to the living place, especially among younger groups, which represents “the most important problem as a society.” The first measure they have requested is the approval of the Land Law, which, as El Periódico de España y Activos, the economic vertical of Prensa Ibérica, announced a few weeks ago, the Executive is already working on its approval in the Council of Ministers. The text will not undergo major changes from the modification drafted in the last legislature by the Secretary of State for Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, then led by Isabel Pardo de Vera. The main purpose of this standard is to prevent urban planning from failing due to defects in form..

Another of the measures they request is the homogenization of the value added tax (VAT) on protected housing. While The VPO has a VAT of 4%, the rest of the properties with other types of protection are taxed at a higher tax rate, 10%. The APCE is already preparing a report on the impact that the tax burden has on the production of real estate at reduced prices.

The employers’ association has positively valued the approval this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers of the ICO fund line to finance the promotion of housing intended for affordable rental and guarantees for the acquisition of homes by young people and families. “It’s good news that there is that amount of money“said Gómez-Pintado. Furthermore, the president of the APCE demanded that the different administrations take into account their demands when drafting the specifications for the promotion of these properties with rental prices below the market to prevent remain deserted, as already happened in Andalusia.