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Empty Apartments Given to the Homeless

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Empty Apartments Given to the Homeless

Affordable housing is scarce, while at the same time many apartments remain empty. This is a problem that many cities are struggling with. The government of the Balearic islands in Spain has now found a solution. A total of 56 apartments, most of them on Mallorca, will be turned into social housing for seven years. Residents are expected to pay only 30 percent of their income as rent, and the owners will be compensated for this.

Balearic Islands: Apartments for those in need

“The properties will be transferred to the people who need it most, taking into account that we cannot collect more than 30% of the owners’ income.

,said Minister of Mobility and Housing of the Balearic Islands, Josep Marí. The Balearic Government assumes with public resources the difference that the landlord will pay for the compensation that is paid to the holder. ”It takes apartments off the “speculative free market” and places them in the hands of those who need them most. The owners of the properties are banks and investment funds that own at least ten properties. These have not been used for at least two years. The owners will receive a total of 1.8 million euros as compensation.

Ending the housing crisis

Other Spanish cities have similar plans. The city of Palma now also wants to expropriate apartment owners to turn them into social housing. This is the result of a request from the city hall to the government of the Balearic islands. It is particularly focussed on buildings owned by banks and investment funds that speculated with them.

Last year, the Catalan government issued an ultimatum concerning vacant apartments. If the owners do not rent their apartments out on a contract lasting for at least a year within a month, they would become the property of the city at half the market price. In addition, the companies can expect penalties of between 90,000€ and 900,000€.

Europe: Over 11 million empty houses

Vacant apartments and houses are a worldwide issue. In Europe, 11 million housing units are empty, with Spain being the leading country with 3.4 million vacant housing units. At the same time, over 4 million people have no roof over their heads in Europe. This means there are almost three times as many vacant apartments as there are homeless people.

A lot of the empty apartments and houses are located in tourist areas like the Balearic islands and were built during the real estate boom until the housing crisis in 2008. A lot of the properties have never been lived in. According to “The Guardian”, many apartments were bought as an investment and without the intention of ever living in them.

 

Balearic government turns empty apartments into social housing

9 COMMENTS

  1. LISTEN UP…WE Need to do the SAME THING in the U.S. I Suggested to PREZ TRUMP to get HOMELESS SHELTERS and SOUP KITCHENS Built in the U.S. ONE at aTIME. HE Liked MY IDEA. AS ONE of HIS Presidential ADVISORS…I had influenced HIM on Past MATTERS. WE Still KEEP in TOUCH. From SamuraiQueen 😄😄😄

    • My compliments to you Elizabeth, we need more common sense like that instead of the programs put in place by the loony tunes idiot in the white house(which I will never agree to as being my president – he is the leader of a self serving, greedy, anti-American faction that is trying to bring the U.S.A. down ).

  2. If you give them food/shelter, why should they work? There needs to be something to motivate them not live free and dope, tramp and, commit crimes, put them to work !

    • Good point. However, these people need to first gain their self respect. Once that is accomplished then they will be eager to finds a job and glad to get one. I am sure each situation is different but the first order of business would be to find out how they BECAME homeless. Many of them may have lost their job through no fault of their own, etc.

      • They will gain self respect as they begin to work to help themselves! You can’t GIVE self respect. It has to be earned by being happy with yourself.

  3. If the homeowner AGREES to housing the homeless and is not FORCED by the government to have his property possibly destroyed, then this is fine.

    However, the government often SAYS they will compensate the homeowner 70%, but the percentage the homeowner actually GETS is almost always a lot less.

    In addition, giving a homeowner just enough to cover their mortgage and bills, but when the homeless person leaves, having to make major repairs, is actually a major LOSS to the homeowner.

    It is NOT the responsibility of a homeowner to be welfare for a government.

    Most homeowners are not evil landlords, like the media portray.
    And not all tenants are just in need of a helping hand to make a better life like, the media portray.
    Sorry to say this but, it is rarely stated, or portrayed in the media.

    In a perfect world and on paper things sound great. Hope it works out for everyone in real life.

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