Spain’s government eyes rent controls in new housing bill

By ARITZ PARRA
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s left-wing ruling coalition says it wants to rein in soaring housing costs by imposing rent increase caps on landlords who own 10 or more residential properties. Government ministers approved draft rent control legislation during a weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The government says vulnerable families and young adults in the country’s biggest cities would be the main beneficiaries. Conservative opposition parties and business leaders have criticized the proposal as an improper intervention in the free market by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government. The government hasn’t yet published the draft so details weren’t immediately available. But officials say it includes tax discounts for landlords with fewer than nine properties who lower their rents.