Madrid finally moves to halt property speculation

23 November 2006

MADRID — The government will introduce a bill on Thursday to stop rampant property speculation blamed for a series of corruption scandals.

But the efforts to halt speculation may come up against opposition from regional governments, may of which want to strengthen their own powers over urban development.

The draft Land Law will face dozens of amendments from small regional parties, reported the Spanish daily El Pais.

But the government wants ‘radical change’ to stop the seemingly endless construction of golf courses and holiday complexes.

These developments, which have been to a large extent the motor behind Spain’s eight year building boom, have often been exploited by unscrupulous promoters and corrupt politicians.

Supporters of the bill claim they have also failed to respect environmental concerns and helped raise the price of homes beyond what many Spaniards can afford.

The new bill would introduce national limits on how much land can be reclassified for construction by local authorities.

A part of this would stop projects which would  increase a town’s population by more than 20 percent.

And 25 percent of each new housing development  would have to be social or subsidized housing or rental properties.    

Nationalist politicians are expected to oppose these moves, claiming they infringe their own local powers.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news