The PNV will maintain its support for the first of the two housing decrees approved by the Government and vote against the second, which provides for an indefinite extension of rental contracts. The party’s spokesperson in Congress, Maribel Vaquero, announced this on October 6, before the texts are put to a vote in the Permanent Deputation.
The position reflects the party’s vote in Congress the previous week, when both decrees were rejected. The PNV’s announcement may help the first decree pass in the new vote, but it does not mean that it has already been approved: the outcome depends on the Permanent Deputation.
Two decrees with different measures
The first text brings together measures aimed at protecting tenants and small landlords, limiting certain home purchases by investment funds, and regulating aspects of seasonal rentals. It also includes provisions related to protection against evictions. The Government presented a new version of this decree following the previous parliamentary rejection, with changes from the earlier text.
The second decree addresses the automatic and indefinite extension of rental contracts, along with penalties for landlords who oppose that extension. The PNV has confirmed that it will not support it.
The vote, in a body other than the full chamber
The new vote is to take place in the Permanent Deputation, the parliamentary body that acts when Parliament is dissolved or outside the ordinary session periods. Parliament was dissolved following the announcement of general elections for November 29. In this body, the distribution of representatives differs from that of the full chamber, a circumstance that may change the outcome.
Available reports indicated that the PNV’s support would allow a majority in favor of the first decree to be reached in the Permanent Deputation. Even so, that expectation must be distinguished from a vote actually being held and from the measures entering into force.
Vaquero calls for a broader response
Vaquero described the measures as «a stopgap» and argued that they do not solve the housing problem on their own. The spokesperson called for a comprehensive response that protects both those who already rent and those who will seek housing in the future, and pointed to the need to increase supply. This assessment expresses the PNV’s political position, not an evaluation of the effects the decrees will have.
The party justified its support for the first text on the basis of measures that, in its view, combine protection for tenants and small landlords. Its rejection of the second is limited to the decree that includes the indefinite extension. The announced position is therefore in favor of one text and against the other, while the formal decision of the Permanent Deputation remains pending.