Spain frees up ‘bad bank’ houses to ease housing crisis

By CIARÁN GILES
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s leftist coalition government has approved a plan to make available some 50,000 houses for rent at affordable prices as part of measures aimed at curbing soaring rents and house prices. The apartments will come from the state-controlled SAREB ‘bad bank’ that was set up in 2012 to relieve troubled banks of their most toxic assets during the international financial crisis. The plan comes as Spain´s nears final approval of its first-ever housing law that envisages putting a 3% cap on apartment rent increases in 2024. Rents and house prices, alongside unemployment, are considered the biggest problems for people in Spain, particularly young people and low-income families.