The new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Isabel Rodriguezused his first intervention since taking office to send a signal of calm small owners. A government spokesman still wanted to convey a “message of calm, hope and sensitivity to smallholders” as the controversy unfolded. Housing lawapproved by the last legislature.

“The government is taking to the streets and we know that in Spain many people, especially the elderly, have dedicated all their effort, work and savings to buying a second home, which now supplements their income. We are also going to protect them,” he emphasized during his first speech as branch manager.

How many owners have more than one home? According to the latest data from National Institute of Statistics (INE), only 15.5% of households have a second place of residence. These are figures for 2021 compiled in the Population and Housing Survey. As of January 1 of that year, there were 18.54 million households in Spain, meaning 2.9 million families would have second homes.

According to INE, the percentage of 15% doubled to 31.2% in households with a net monthly income of €5,000 or more. In contrast, in households with a net income of less than 1,000 euros per month it was below 10%.

Likewise, the statistics also clarify that among the households that had a second place of residence, the predominant ones were those in which all members were Spanish (94.2%) and in which no member of the household had a higher education (46.2%).

Criticism of Rodriguez

Rodriguez’s comments about smallholders drew some criticism throughout the day. Deputy of Sumar and President Mas Pais, Inigo Errejonwas against the statement of the new head of housing and communal services.

“It’s not here. This continues to feed the rentier social bloc, which then persecutes any attempts to advance rights. Governance must be a tool for democratizing power, which does not come through polls. If not, you will always be a tenant in the state,” he said in a post on social network X (formerly Twitter).

Until now, the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, also spoke out on the same social network and criticized the argument of the new head of housing and communal services. “Who does the Sanchez government need to protect smallholders from? Those who need to be protected from vultures are families, people renting, those being evicted by financial institutions,” he said a few hours after the witness broadcast. new head of equality department, Ana Redondo.

During his speech, Rodriguez emphasized that housing is a priority of the new government and that with the creation of this ministry, it is given the opportunity to guarantee a constitutional right. Likewise, the minister stated that the “goal” is to build the 184,000 public houses announced by Pedro Sánchez himself. Of these, almost 70,000 have already “earned money.”

“We will increase the public housing stock for affordable rent, with an ambitious medium to long-term public investment policy to increase its share of the total housing stock to 20%, putting young people at the heart of access to housing. Public The housing stock will be formed through mechanisms for purchasing or renting existing housing, through newly built houses and the mobilization of empty houses,” he concluded.