The rent crisis It is widespread throughout the country and more than 10 million tenants are experiencing a critical situation full of uncertainty. There is almost no offer, prices have risen, publications in dollars on platforms are growing, and the requirements of real estate are increasingly leonine.
It is Wednesday at 12 noon the Chamber of Deputies will meet to discuss retrogressive modifications to the Rental Law. The request for the special session already had a date from July, with the signature of deputies from Together for Change, Javier Milei, Federal Interblock and United Provinces. The intention of most of these blocks is the repeal of the Rental Law, or failing that, make modifications that have the same effect as its repeal. The law has been in force for barely 3 years and has not even been applied, under a deafening silence of the Frente de Todos government. The real estate lobby has been playing hard to overturn this legislation for a long time.
From the bench of deputies of the PTS-Left Unity Front They came to the crossroads of the proposals that are going to be taken to the venue this Wednesday warning that they want to worsen an already critical situation for tenants and tenants. Myriam Bregman, Nicolás del Caño and Alejandro Vilca denounce that “The majority blocks are mounting a gigantic deception on the population, blaming the current law for the rental crisis, when what they seek is to give the real estate business a free hand so that they can do what they want, aggravating the problems that the and the tenants. What they question about the rental law are the points that minimally protect tenants, and not because of what it lacks to protect or because of its practically null application. Nothing good can come from those who defend the real estate lobby that wants to fix raise rents according to the price of the dollar and not by wages”. The left blames the rent crisis on property speculation and announced his rejection of the proposals that are going to be to the session. “It’s going to imply a bigger increase in rental prices and with updates every 3 or 6 months, they want a new hit to income”they warned.
Bregman, Del Caño and Vilca denounced the Frente de Todos government what “Nothing was done, not only to solve the housing problem, but also to ensure that the minimum points that protect tenants are met. Letting go and not guaranteeing minimum rights was and is functional to the lobby that they say they want to fight and led to millions of families to this desperate alley. Added to that, with the 22% devaluation blow that they have decided after the PASO, they only worsen the income of the majority”.
What do you want to vote?
The -minority- opinion that they agreed Together for Change and its allies in 2022 it proposes: that the contracts be for 2 years, that price updates can be made every 3 months as a minimum and every 12 months as a maximum, and without any reference index. That is to say, legalize that owners and real estate agents freely impose all their conditions on tenants. The current rental crisis situation already shows what their intentions are: shoot prices above inflation. In the proposal they add tax benefits for owners. In this way, they want to reverse the points of the current law that the real estate business requires, which establishes 3-year contracts, updates every 1 year and according to the rental rate (50% due to inflation, 50% due to the evolution of formal salaries).
The blocks that signed the call to the session would gather 132 deputies and deputies if they had perfect attendance (Juntos por el Cambio, Interbloque Federal, Provincias Unidas, La Libertad Avanza), for which they could reach a quorum of 129. Although some blocks are negotiating to make modifications to the text that is put to the vote, especially in relation to the periodicity of the increases. In order to move forward with a direct repeal of the law, since there is no opinion, they need to gather a special two-thirds majority to vote in the venue, a very difficult scenario to achieve. The negotiations for these hours are focused on agreeing on modifications to the opinion to reach a vote in the venue that has practically the same effects as the repeal.
Although the opinion of the Front of All is the majority, if the opposition bloc achieves a quorum on Wednesday, it can impose a vote on its modifications (minority opinion). Although the text of the ruling party proposes to maintain the central points of the current law, incorporating, like Together for Change, tax benefits for owners, voices have appeared in its ranks in recent months that have made some demands of the real estate business their own. This is the case of the deputy and candidate for head of the Buenos Aires government of Unión por la Patria, Leandro Santoro. In the media, he argued that the contracts should be reduced to 2 years, as proposed by Together for Change, and increases every 6 months. Another case is that of Sergio Massaeconomy minister and ruling party presidential candidate, who adopted the same real estate lobby discourse this week. “The rental law failed, it was very bad” he assured, without giving any explanation of why the government lets real estate speculation run without doing absolutely nothing, nor does it drop measures in favor of tenants with the crisis that exists.
“Group Tenants” summons a mobilization this Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in front of the Congress under the motto “Let’s stop the real estate market. Housing will be a right”.
Real estate speculation figures
The argument that any regulation is responsible for the drop in rental supply is the story of the real estate business, and which is echoed by the majority blocks and those who promote “freedom of the market.” But the data shows that they are responsible.
The last census of 2022 revealed that housing construction increased compared to 2010 more than the population grew (28.5% vs 14.8%)and it is calculated that there is 1 dwelling for every 2.6 people. That is, there are plenty of homes but for those who rent the situation worsened. “Group Tenants” denounced that there are almost 3 million empty homes according to the 2010 census, as the government casually refuses to update that information to date. The houses are but not at the service of housing needs but at the service of speculation. The flip side of these figures is that The population that can access their own home has been falling: In the 2010 Census, 72.95% of households had their own home, and in 2022 that figure dropped to 65.5%. The equation gives as a result that more homes were built, but fewer people had access to their own home. It is built for speculation.
He case of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires It is emblematic, those who have access to their own home are below the national average: only 52% in 2022. In 2001, 68% of households were owners, and in 2010, 56%. The eviction of homeless families in Lugano with a huge police operation by Larreta this Friday once again exposes the irrationality of houses without people and people without houses.
The deputies of the PTS-Frente de Izquierda Unidad, propose that the Urgent measures to address the rental crisis in favor of tenants. Beginning by propping up empty homes with progressive taxes to discourage speculation by large real estate groups and for those properties to go on offer; put a cap on the initial price of the contracts and the updates according to the evolution of formal and informal wages; limit temporary rentals to those who exceed 300mts2 without counting their own home; the prohibition of fixing rental prices in dollars. They argue that these are measures that could be taken immediately, in the process of providing more structural responses for access to housing, such as cheap loans with a subsidized rate, and a public works plan to build the necessary housing and urbanize neighborhoods, where the workers are the ones who control that planning.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
