Spain looks to BLOCK Brits buying second homes by announcing major tax raid

One proposal under consideration addresses a potential tax for non-EU citizens buying property who do not already permanently reside there.

With a new levy on tax for foreigners, the sum paid to snap up a property will soar to 100 per cent of the property’s value.

As it stands, those purchasing property in Spain must pay costs and taxes from 10 and 12 per cent of the price overall which is determined by its location.

Sánchez has said that such a new tariff would help to “prioritise the availability of housing for residents”.

In 2023, non-EU residents brought 27,000 Spanish properties “not to live in them, but mainly to speculate”, the Prime Minister added.

He also asserted that this was “something that, in the context of the shortages we are experiencing, we cannot afford”.

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Over the years, Spain has hosted an ever-increasing number of protests as disgruntled residents have blasted Madrid for the national housing crisis while laws permit foreigners to purchase property and rent them out to tourists, leaving them empty for most of the year.

In response to mounting pressure from the public, Sánchez's overhaul seeks to reform the construction industry to guarantee affordable housing and potential incentives to renters.

A part of its package would include transferring land to a Public Housing Company that will seek to build thousands of new homes that would be much more affordable.

In the first six months of the year, Sánchez revealed that the company will start to incorporate more than 30,000 homes from Spanish company Sareb.

Spain's Government will also attempt to “rehabilitate” empty houses to be developed into extra “affordable rentals”, as well as providing incentives to people who buy up flats to renovate them.

The list of proposals have also asserted that non-EU citizens will be limited in the number of properties that they can purchase while residing in a different country so that Spanish people can access the houses first.

“The objective with all these measures is clear. What we want is to protect citizens, to find a better balance between tourism and investment, which are two key activities for our economy,” Sánchez announced.

“And also, logically, access to housing, which is a constitutional right of the people and a legitimate objective of our Government when we say that we want to make it the fifth Pillar of the welfare state.”