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It can be argued, and it is true, that housing has become much more expensive in Malaga this decade, and the supply of affordable apartments is almost non-existent, especially for rent. But it is striking that from 2020 to 2023, the cases of squatting have multiplied no less than threefold. Problems with mortgages have also increased, although with much lower figures; while cases of urban rentals remain at similar figures, year after year.
Following the Royal Decree Law 11/202, which was passed on 31 March 2020mm which protects vulnerable families from eviction, the number of squatting cases has grown exponentially. In the period between the law's enactment to 2023 (the last year with comprehensive statistics), the housing rights office of Malaga city council, has registered three times more squatting cases. The service, which helps landlords, tenants, squatters and those affected by squatters, has also recorded cases involving problems with mortgage payments, although those present much lower figures, as well as cases of urban renting, which have remained similar year after year. It is important to note that these figures reflect the increase of market prices, with affordable flats becoming almost non-existent, whether it is to buy or rent.
The decree from March 2020 was a response to the crisis after the pandemic. The main measure was the suspension of evictions of people in precarious situations. In the following years, these measures were extended and expanded in the Housing Law of May 2023, which consolidated protection.
Municipal data show that the approval and subsequent reinforcement of the regulation coincides with a boom in illegal squatting of flats in Malaga city. In 2019, the city council dealt with 115 cases. In 2020, with the law already approved, there were 155, and since then it has not stopped growing, with up to 492 cases registered in 2023.
This data does not take into account the cases of so-called 'inquiokupas', i.e. tenants who stop paying rent until they are evicted. It is here that the highest number of cases has been reported, with 693 cases in the last year, although under a wide variety of circumstances. The issue of overstaying tenants also experienced a significant jump between 2020 and 2021, when it almost doubled. Nonetheless, the rate has remained stable since then.
Another problem that the city council has been faced with concerns mortgagors and their respective banks. Cases of this type have increased almost fivefold, although their weight in the statistics is negligible (97 cases in total).
When it comes to who owns these squatted houses, data confirm a well-known real estate fact: half (245) of all affected houses are owned by large private owners, banks and investment funds. But the second most affected group is the administration itself, the city council and the Junta, with 134 cases of squatters in the public housing estate. Private landlords form the third sector of affected parties, with around 100 cases every year.
According to social services, one of the most noted negative results of this situation is that many families, that really need the highest housing priority, do not have access to a roof over their heads.
The councillor for housing, Francisco Pomares, has put these figures in context. To begin with, attention to cases where the tenant has stopped paying has increased by 200%, which Pomares attributes "to the circumstances of the general housing problem". In contrast, squatting has risen twice as much, by 400% in the same period.
"The law was intended to protect families who, due to circumstances, stop paying for a period of time, and so the congress agreed that they should be given time to look for an alternative," he stated. "The problem is that, on the grounds of this law, squatting has increased." The councillor has warned that this activity "nowadays is professionalised", with different 'trades', ranging from those who break down doors to those who buy the keys and move in, waiting for compensation to leave the property.
"I have no doubt: of course it has increased a lot, since this law invites you to stop paying," said Virginia Robles, secretary of the association that protects homeowners against judicial instability (APROVIJ). With this statement, she evaluates the effect that state protection has had on the phenomenon of 'inquiokupas', that is, defaulting tenants who stop paying rent after declaring themselves vulnerable.
"It has had the opposite effect to what was expected, because people have lost their fear of not paying, there is impunity," said Robles. "Some organisations, NGOs and social workers even recommend it, telling them that they have the right to stop paying; those who follow their advice are informed that the law protects them," she stated.
The recent rejection by congress of the omnibus decree was a breath of hope for these landlords, but it was followed by a hard slap, when it was approved again, although with new measures to guarantee the collection of rent. "Everything is going to stay the same," said Robles. As she stated, compensation to the landlord is only requested once the eviction has been achieved. "When is it going to come to a complete ban on evicting them? Nobody pays for what we go through in the meantime: the psychological consequences, the medication, the emergency room visits."
Robles has denounced the "very cumbersome requirements that come with applying for it [the state of vulnerability]", as "'inquiokupas' can be given vulnerability following only a phone call". She regards the guarantee plan for homeowners, as stated in the new measures, as "another lie". "The state is supposedly paying rents to people under 35, at the price they decide. This is a disguised expropriation, when I don't authorise them to use my housing. People don't want money, they want their housing. We have members living in storage rooms, in vans and paying rents, when they have a flat of their own; they are more vulnerable than their tenants," she said.
Pomares highlighted on "the drama" that this phenomenon represents for families at risk of social exclusion. There are flats that have already been allocated to people in great need, as assessed by social services, but have become occupied by squatters. "Now, because someone has squatted it, the person who was going to enter is waiting. But they don't wait a month, or two, or six, or a year.... It takes us two to three years to evict the squatters!" he stated.
"I'm not saying that the squatter doesn't need it. What I'm saying is that it's not his turn, but someone else's, someone who needs it more than they do; we can't reward that, because people are awaer that legal proceedings against large property owners are more lenient than those against small landlords who are affected," said Pomares. For this reason, the councillor for housing is calling for a change in the regulations, "which were born out of good intentions, but have had a perverse effect in all cities, because squatting has increased on the basis of this legal protection, and it continues to grow".
In addition to this, irregular occupants are left out of the system. "We cannot give public housing to a person who has committed a crime, as the law does not allow. Therefore, it would be absurd to reward them on top of that. The same families who do this are seeking their own demise," said Pomares.
The result of the created situation is even more pernicious, because potential buyers of rented flats are using them for other purposes or leaving them empty out of fear. "Because of these figures, the rental market is shrinking and many people are looking for other alternatives that give them more security." While some keep the flats they buy closed, others use them for tourist accommodation, "which has grown because of the profitability of this activity, but also because of the legal certainty that there will be no problems with squatting or rent avoidance".
"Right now we have a real problem wtih the lack of flats for rent in Malaga," stated Francisco Pomares. In addition, he said: "We are forced to convince people to put their second homes on the market, although they are afraid because they know that many suffer years of lawsuits to get them back [from squatters and overstaying tenants]."
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