The Balearic parliament has approved a motion by the Més per Menorca group for the government to study how to limit the purchase of second homes by foreigners on the islands, with the aim of reducing the problem of housing supply in the archipelago. A task force will be set up, which will have a year to analyse the existing regulations, the particular problems of the Balearic Islands and the cases where they are applied.
The purchase of homes by foreigners in the Balearics accounted for 38.9% of the total number of transactions in the islands in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to official data. It was the second province with the highest proportion of foreigners, behind Alicante (39.3%), and ahead of Malaga (30.6%).
House prices in the Balearic Islands also registered an increase of 7.1% year-on-year in February, reaching 3,351 euros/m2, according to the latest idealista price report. In Palma, the rise was 9%, to 3,211 euros/m2, reaching the highest prices ever in the city. The same is happening in Ciutadella de Menorca, which sees average prices stand at 2,367 euros/m2, also a record high. The uniqueness of the archipelago limits the capacity for the creation of new construction, which together with the boom in holiday rentals could be leading to greater pressure from demand on the supply of houses on the buying and selling market.
Faced with this situation, the parliamentary group Més per Menorca has obtained the approval of the Balearic parliament for a motion to demand that the Balearic government study ways to limit the purchase of second homes by foreigners. The local party blames the lack of access to housing and rising house prices on the high demand from foreigners.
This government task force will have a year to study the rules that prevent limiting the purchase of real estate by foreigners, as a ban on part of citizenship is against EU law. It will also study the different cases and experiences that exist at European and international level in this area and will propose alternatives to these restrictions and conclusions specific to the particular case of the Balearic Islands.
The Balearic parliament has also urged the regional government to create its own reference index of rental housing prices, to increase efforts in the construction of subsidised housing in Menorca and to set up, within three months, a register of unoccupied homes owned by professional landlords. In the same parliamentary session, the initiative to establish an autonomous law to regulate and limit rental prices in the Balearic Islands was rejected.
Article seen at: Baleares plantea limitar la compra de vivienda a extranjeros (eldiario.es)
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