Politics · Spain · 1 day ago
Cuerpo and Calviño had opposed rent controls before adopting government policy
Spain’s government under Pedro Sánchez has introduced housing rules that include rent controls.
The story contrasts this policy with earlier views held by Carlos Cuerpo, now the government’s first deputy prime minister, and Nadia Calviño, his predecessor as economy minister.
In a 2014 paper written while working in Brussels, Cuerpo said rent controls could destabilize the wider housing market.
He also described a 2013 change to Spanish rental law as making rules more flexible for setting rents.
Calviño said in 2021 and 2023 that rent controls would not solve the housing problems, and later wrote that she opposed freezing rents during the pandemic.
Both ministers ultimately accepted the government’s housing rules, despite their earlier views.
The story does not say what changes, if any, will follow.
Carlos Cuerpo’s 2014 research argued that rent controls can destabilise the housing market.
Nadia Calviño publicly questioned rent caps while serving as economy minister, including in 2021 and February 2023.
Both later served in governments that adopted rent-control rules, according to El Mundo.
The article says the government’s housing policy contradicts the ministers’ earlier positions.
- Who
- Carlos Cuerpo, Nadia Calviño and the Spanish government led by Pedro Sánchez.
- What
- The article compares the ministers’ earlier opposition to rent controls with their later adoption of government policy.
- When
- Cuerpo’s research was published in 2014; Calviño made the cited public comments in 2021 and February 2023. The policy adoption date is not stated.
- Where
- Spain; Cuerpo’s research was written while he worked in Brussels.
- Why
- The article says the government’s housing policy contradicts the ministers’ traditional positions on rent controls.
Cuerpo and Calviño's earlier positions
Spanish government's adopted policy
Rent controls
Cuerpo and Calviño's earlier positions
Cuerpo wrote that rent controls could significantly destabilise the housing market, and Calviño said rent regulation would not solve all problems.
Spanish government's adopted policy
The government adopted rent-control rules, according to the article.
Carlos Cuerpo co-authored a study on rental-market regulation in the European Union.
Nadia Calviño said rent-price regulation would not solve all problems.
Calviño said attractive, easy messages about rent caps would not solve problems.
The European Commission’s report opposing rent controls cited Cuerpo’s study, according to El Mundo.
- Study
- Cuerpo co-authored a 2014 paper on rental-market regulation in the European Union
- Study co-authors
- Carlos Cuerpo, Peter Pontuch and Sona Kalantaryan
- Calviño comment
- She spoke publicly against rent-price regulation in 2021
- Later comment
- Calviño spoke about rent caps in February 2023
- Current role
- Calviño is president of the European Investment Bank
What people are saying
Rent control seems to have a significantly destabilising impact on the housing market as a whole, as it increases the volatility of housing prices when faced with different types of shocks, such as changes in population, disposable income, residential investment and long-term interest rates.
Regulating rental prices is not a measure that will solve all the problems; it is not a magic cure.
Citizens do not want us to send messages that are easy and that at a given moment may be attractive, but that do not solve the problems.
Sources
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