In parliament on Tuesday, President Prohens stated that 82 properties are covered by the government's 'Safe Rental' scheme for landlords. This is the total since the programme was launched in November 2024. It was designed to put empty homes onto the rental market.
The figure drew howls of derision from the opposition, the government having said there would be up to 3,000 properties for a scheme intended to give landlords guarantees in return for making their properties available for renting out at below-market rates. It provides security and confidence to landlords, who often hesitate to put their properties up for rent due to fear of non-payment and uncertainty about the condition in which the property will be returned.
Landlords are in fact paid the full-market rate. Tenants pay the lower rates to the government, typically around 30% lower, and the government makes up the difference.
Prohens responded to the criticisms by pointing out that the previous government under PSOE provided only 16 apartments from its scheme for the expropriation of empty homes under multiple ownership (ten or more), e.g. by banks. Without going into detail, she added that the government will approve changes to the Safe Rental plan at this Friday's cabinet meeting.
The president argued that the rental market in the Balearics is "a community of small landlords who prefer to keep their homes vacant because they are afraid to rent them out due to state laws that protect criminals". She was referring to legislation that gives squatters rights, where situations of 'vulnerability' can be claimed, and to gangs who seek to exploit this.
The argument over rent caps surfaced in the course of the debate, Prohens highlighting the case of Catalonia, where the declaration of the 'stressed areas' criterion for limiting rent increases has failed.
Josep Castells of Més in Menorca cast doubt on the problem lying with landlords' fears. "I thought that this what the Safe Rental programme was for. Why aren't landlords lining up to include their properties in the programme?"
Castells focused on the "hoarding" of homes by foreign buyers for second residences, homes "that remain empty for much of the year". "That's the reality, and they (the government) have no measures to address the problem." He criticised Prohens' Partido Popular for rejecting the law to limit home purchases by foreigners. "They didn't even read it."