For over a decade, millions of Britons have watched TV presenter Laura Hamilton help thousands of people find their place in the sun in locations all over the world. And now Laura, the Greenwich-born builder and property developer in her own right having bought her first ‘granny flat’ at the age of 17, has found her very own place in the sun in Mallorca - in the heart of Pollensa town to be exact. And she is extremely excited about the project, which is her first outside of the UK.
And she is far from concerned about threats the Spanish government are making to foreign propriety investors. A proposed property tax could mean an increase of 100% on the existing tax rate for anyone buying from outside the EU.
But the TV star revealed on Instagram that she’s “not losing sleep over it”. She insisted: “This was part of a 12-point proposal aimed at tackling Spain’s housing crisis, but it’s far from being law.” She explained that all 17 autonomous regions in Spain would have to agree to the controversial tax in order for it to be greenlit. The mum-of-two declared: “Each [have] the power to set their own purchase transfer tax. Getting them all to agree? Unlikely.
“It’s just a proposal. Pedro Sánchez leads a minority government, so pushing through new taxes on non-EU buyers? Unlikely.” Laura added: “Non-EU buyers only make up 3% of property transactions in Spain. So targeting them won’t fix the housing crisis.”
The latest proposal designed to limit foreign buying of homes in Mallorca and the Balearics has come from Més in Menorca. Spokesperson Josep Castells explains that in areas where a housing emergency is declared, when a home is put up for sale, it should be to individuals with at least fifteen years residency and to those with permanent employment contracts.
This fifteen-year stipulation would be effective for the first two years. It would then be reduced to six years. After a further two years it would be eliminated. “If the law is passed, we will restore the right of the island’s citizens to live in their own homes. It seeks to halt the rise in prices resulting from the huge surge in buying by wealthy foreigners,” says Castells.