Spain is planning a 100% tax on houses bought by non-EU residents

Spain is planning to introduce a tax of up to 100% on properties bought by non-residents from countries outside the EU, such as the UK.

Announcing the move, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the “unprecedented” measure was necessary to address the country’s housing emergency.

“The West faces a decisive challenge: not to become a society divided into two classes: rich landlords and poor tenants,” he said.

Non-EU residents bought 27,000 properties in Spain in 2023, he told an economic forum in Madrid, “not to live in” but “to make money from them”.

“Which in the context of the deficit we are in, (we obviously) cannot allow,” he added.

So the move was designed to “prioritize making affordable homes available to residents,” he said.

Sánchez did not provide details on how the tax would work or the timetable for its submission to parliament for approval, where he has often struggled to muster enough votes to pass the law.

But his government said the proposal would be finalized “after careful study”.

This is one of a dozen planned measures announced by the Prime Minister on Monday aimed at increasing housing affordability in the country.

Other measures announced include tax exemptions for landlords who provide affordable housing, the transfer of more than 3,000 homes to a new public housing authority, and tighter regulation and higher taxes on tourist apartments.

“It is not fair that those who rent out three, four or five apartments on a short-term basis pay less tax than hotels,” he said.