First of all, the Basque Government will begin to develop the necessary regulation so that the law can apply it even after the garment of the Constitutional. This will take time, because the autonomous government wants to bring the issue “with maximum guarantees”.

In other words: The new Housing Act is a step forward in relation to the current situation, as it offers institutions greater possibilities to guarantee the right to housing. For example, owners of vacant dwellings may be charged a fee, beyond the Real Estate Tax (IBI), to encourage the rental of the apartments in their hands.

And beyond that, the new law will allow institutions to expropriate empty houses. But in order for this possibility to occur, very particular conditions should be provided: for example, in a specific space there should be a special “social need” of housing. Some believe that, with the text on land, expropriation could be carried out in the capitals of Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, since in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián there is the greatest unmet need for housing.

However, it does not appear that the Basque Government is prepared to start getting rid of the empty floors to guarantee the right to housing. Firstly, the definition of what is an uninhabited house provides for a number of exceptions: for example, second homes do not fall within this classification; neither are those on rent or for sale, even if they do not live. The dwelling must remain empty for more than two consecutive years to be considered as a dwelling that does not fulfil its social function and that is empty without justification.

Housing Advisor Iñaki Arriola has announced that before reaching this situation the owners will have the opportunity to rent their apartments. They would only be charged a fee – EUR 10 per square metre – or tougher measures if they were not prepared to do so, such as the obligation to rent in places of great need and, as a last step, expropriation.