# Annual fee on empty homes in the Basque Housing Law (2019-present)

* In June 2019, the **Basque government in Spain opened to public consultation a law project that would introduce an annual fee on empty homes** as a way to encourage landlords to put such homes in the market.
  * **79% of the people who participated in the consultation supported the annual fee**.
* <https://etxebizitza.blog.euskadi.eus/es/debates/canon-anual-medida-viviendas-deshabitadas/>
* **Definition of "empty home" in this law project:**
  * Homes that have remained continuously unoccupied for a period of more than 2 years.
  * Source: <https://etxebizitza.blog.euskadi.eus/es/debates/canon-anual-medida-viviendas-deshabitadas/>
  * There are exceptions: see below in the summary.
* **Summary from their site through Google Translate:**
  * The Basque Government is developing a Preliminary Draft Decree that will regulate uninhabited housing in the Basque Country.
  * In its draf&#x74;**, uninhabited dwellings are defined as those dwellings located in the Basque Country “that remain continuously unoccupied for a period of more than 2 years”.**
  * **They** would **NOT** be considered uninhabited houses:
    * Second residence homes
    * Justified temporary uninhabitation (labour, health, dependency or social emergency reasons or equivalent)
    * Non-profit entity housing intended for certain groups
    * Homes transferred for rental management to public entities competent in housing
    * Homes that are being rehabilitated or conditioned to enable their future use
  * Currently, there are several existing public programs linked to the **promotion of housing mobilization and occupation** (ASAP, Bizigune, ...) that facilitate access to decent housing at affordable prices with all kinds of guarantees for landlords and tenants.
  * For those homes that despite these incentives are not effectively made available for rent, **the establishment of an annual fee is foreseen as a measure to reverse the situation**.
  * To do this, it is proposed that the City Councils be in charge of managing this fee, from its imposition to its collection. **The collection generated by this canon will be used exclusively to promote municipal actions for social purposes in housing**.
  * The proposal contemplates that the payment of the canon be borne by the holders of the right to use the home and that it have an amount of €10 / m2 useful for the home. This amount will be increased by 10% for each year that the house remains uninhabited, never exceeding the initial amount by 3 times.
* **Keywords:** Basque Country, Euskadi, Spain, unused, vacant, dwelling