The Platform of People Affected by Mortgages (PAH) demands that the Government regulate social rents or, failing that, transfer powers to the autonomous communities so that they can do so. This request comes after the Constitutional Court annulled much of the Catalan housing law of 2022 and canceled the obligation of large landlords to offer social rent in the event of eviction for non-payment.
They made this known during an action before Parliament, in which they received the support of other entities like Irídia, the Round Table of the Third Sector, Òmnium, the ANC, or unions like CCOO or UGT. Some affected people also participated, like Roi, who suffered five eviction attempts until the judge recognized his right to social rent.
But because of the TC’s decision, he lost this right and lives with “anguish and fear” the possibility of being deported. “What is unconstitutional is leaving people on the street,” he stressed. According to PAH data, nearly 20,000 families have benefited from the obligation to offer social rent to precarious people.
However, the PAH demanded that President Illa stop “making big announcements” and “get his act together”. PAH spokesperson Juanjo Ramón insisted the housing crisis was “urgent” and disgraced the president by saying his solution was to build 50,000 homes, “when there are 40,000 empty apartments in Catalonia.
It is for this reason that the PAH requires the application of the articles of the law which allow the expropriation of apartments that large owners have left uninhabited. “The excuses that there is no housing are immoral,” Ramón remarked.
