Dr. Fernando P. Méndez
Fernando Méndez, Registrar of Mercantile and Movable Property and a Numerary Member of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (READ), analysed the current housing problem in Spain and proposed several possible solutions during a colloquium held on 14 January at Librería Byron in Barcelona, organised by Sociedad Civil Catalana, in which Chantal Moll, Professor of Civil Law at the University of Barcelona, also participated. The session was introduced and moderated by Ferran Brunet, member of the Board of Directors and head of the Economy and Business area of the organising entity. The two experts analysed the key elements of housing policy, the shortage of buildable land, increasingly limited rental availability, bureaucracy and regulatory frameworks in housing policies, complex and high taxation, the effect of immigration, insecurity of property rights and squatting, among other aspects.
Méndez and Moll agreed that the problem of access to housing does not stem from a single factor, but rather from the combination of several structural elements affecting both supply and the security of the real estate market. They emphasised that the scarcity of available housing is one of the central causes of rising prices, aggravated by excessive regulation and the legal uncertainty perceived by property owners. This situation, they noted, reduces investment and limits supply, contributing to higher rental costs and making access to housing more difficult, particularly for the most vulnerable sectors.
“The shortage of housing and its high prices have turned us into a society of tenants, which represents a ticking time bomb for pensions, because a person who has fully paid for their home allocates only 7% of their income to housing, whereas a tenant allocates around 40%. What will happen when these people retire?” asked the READ academic, raising what he considers to be a fundamental problem that will have serious repercussions in the future. He also stated that the administration has become a “machine for preventing”. In this regard, he referred to data from the Competition Defence Court, which show how land management and the slowness of licensing procedures increase the final price of housing by 30%.
In response to this situation, Méndez called for a significant legal and administrative reform inspired by the German model, which eliminates prior licensing. “The right to build must arise from urban planning, which is the law, not from the will of a civil servant, as currently occurs,” he argued. His proposal is to replace the current building permit with a declaration of responsibility from architects and developers. If a local council detects any indication of illegality, it should be a judge who determines it and, where appropriate, halts the construction. Furthermore, the academic defended the role of SOCIMIs (Listed Companies for Investment in the Real Estate Market) as key actors in improving the functioning of Spain’s rental market, criticising what he described as their ideological demonisation. According to Méndez, 92% of the market is in the hands of small property owners, which in his view generates an “amateur and inefficient” system incapable of reducing prices or providing stability.
Méndez argued that the presence of large real estate companies would bring greater professionalism and security for tenants, since, unlike individual owners, these corporations do not need to recover the property for personal reasons and can guarantee stable long-term contracts. He also compared the potential role of SOCIMIs with that of large retail chains, which compete by adjusting prices and improving services. The economist highlighted that the regulatory flexibility granted to these companies in 2012 fostered growth in the rental market, with the incorporation of 700,000 new tenants in four years. However, he warned that the 2023 Housing Law is generating legal uncertainty and prompting investors to withdraw at a time of high demand.
Finally, Méndez criticised the so-called Beckham Law, arguing that it favours foreign buyers, who are taxed at a fixed rate lower than that applied to Spanish residents with high incomes. According to him, this tax advantage increases foreign demand and contributes to rising housing prices, which is why he called for its repeal, considering it contradictory to policies aimed at facilitating access to housing. Both speakers also highlighted the impact of economic and demographic factors, such as the tax burden on property and population growth, which increase demand. In this context, they warned that public policies should focus on encouraging construction, guaranteeing legal certainty and creating conditions that promote balance between owners and tenants.
Méndez served as Dean of the Association of Property, Mercantile and Movable Property Registrars of Catalonia between 1993 and 2001 and of the Association of Property, Mercantile and Movable Property Registrars of Spain between 2001 and 2006. He later assumed the position of Director of International Relations of the same Association of Registrars (2013–2017). For his professional and academic work he received the Grand Cross of San Raimundo de Peñafort. In October 1993, together with Alfonso Hernández, he published in the newspaper “La Vanguardia” the article entitled “Cost of Changing a Mortgage”, which produced an unprecedented impact on the Spanish mortgage landscape. In March 1994, the Spanish Parliament unanimously approved the Law on Subrogation and Modification of Mortgage Loans, taking that article as its basis. He has been part of expert groups that prepared several regulatory texts, including those of the 2007 Land Law and Law 4/2013 on Measures to Promote Flexibility and the Development of the Housing Rental Market. He has published five monographs, directed and participated in several collective works and published numerous articles.
