NEW HOUSING LAW PASSED

Edition 526

Parliament passed a law last week aimed at controlling property speculators whom the government blames for spiralling house prices. It will come into force on July 1st, after which official documents will list everybody who has owned any piece of land in the five years before its development and senior local government officials will have to declare their assets. A number of local officials have been arrested recently in several parts of the country - most notably Marbella - on allegations of fraud, money laundering and corruption linked to housing projects. The government hopes that reducing the number of speculators and the degree of corruption will bring down prices. When announcing the passing of the law, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said: "With the instruments of this law we should put the brakes on exorbitant house prices." The new law also reserves 30% of future property development for social housing and allows for planning decisions taken over the past two years to be reviewed under certain circumstances.