The Councillor for Housing, Youth and Migration Policies of Navarre, Begoña Alfaro, has appeared in a parliamentary committee to assess the report on Housing of Navarre published by the foral government at the request of EH Bildu. Taking into account the latest available data, the December 2023 Government of Navarra covers only 3% of the demand for public housing. In the case of rent, the figure is 1.1%, with an offer of 166 for the demand 15,054. Regarding the purchase, it stands at 8.2%, with 6,192 requests and 506 offers, respectively.

However, Alfaro has concluded that “we are on the right track”, as “Navarra is the community that is building the most public housing: 1.25 out of 1,000 inhabitants, well above the Spanish State average,” he said. “Likewise, if we compare our data with the countries of central and northern Europe, we would not be very close, and that should be our destination,” he said.

According to the counselor, Navarre is far from this goal “because of the speculative policies of the past decades”. In fact, the Foral Government did not apply the indefinite qualification of protected housing until 2022. “We are paying for the measures of the past and we will see the results of the days in 15 or 20 years,” he said in relation to the new constructions. Alfaro has announced 728 new homes for official protection next year.

Public-private partnership, hope without guarantees

“And meanwhile, what?” asks people who are behind unmet demand data, especially young people. According to the latest report of the Emancipation Observatory of the Council of Youth of Spain, only 16.2% of young Navarros are emancipated, and the average age to leave the parental home is over 30 years.

If we take a look at the well-known Idealist platform for the sale of housing on the Internet, we can see the cause of this phenomenon: for example, at this moment in all of Pamplona there are only 6 homes below 700 euros. This price is the limit set by the Government of Navarra for Emanzipa to be able to apply for the subsidy.

For this reason, Alfaro has announced that the priority of the coming months is “to inform the owners who have a second home and do not want to rent it”, so that they incorporate their property into a public rental bag. However, it did not specify how the Government intends to attract its owners to this public-private partnership that is being carried out in the public company Nasuvinsa.
However, Martin Zamarbide of the Haritu housing union sees no hope in this proposal: “Socialdemocracy does not offer solutions to the families who stay on the streets and we see that the situation is going to get worse, not only by big companies, but also by small owners. Much cannot be done if empty homes are not publicly owned and are not marketed at very low prices. As property accumulates more profits, more people remain in misery.”

The most vulnerable families, apart from young people, are the ones who suffer most from this problem. Social worker Marta Antoñana is directly related to many of these groups, as she works in the Paris 365 entity of Pamplona/Iruña. Your reading is as follows: “We must not forget that social and housing policies marginalise people in an irregular situation, as they cannot be targeted for public aid,” he said.

“On the other hand, of those enrolled, many remain on the waiting list, as is happening in Nasuvinsa. The Government of Navarre has just said that 17,000 people have enrolled in official housing programs, but has not mentioned that they no longer allow more people to enter.” Consequently, “being the best state data shows nothing about social housing policy,” Antoñana said.

Iker Narbona of the Socialist Housing Union believes that “these comparisons are odious.” In their opinion, all communities are based on the same premise for managing housing policy: “Business is not touched.” The young man says he knows that “capitalist institutions” are not going to reverse the situation, but they do not do “what is in their hands” either. “How can we explain otherwise that the homes of banks promising evictions are not exposed?”

CONCENTRATION TO STOP EVICTION

Faced with this question, Narbona has taken the opportunity to announce this Friday, 4 October, the call of the Socialist Housing Union to paralyze the eviction ordered by Ibercaja in Artikaberri. The concentration will take place at 8:30 in number 3 of Mothers Street of Plaza de Mayo.