A proposed EU law will ban Britons buying second homes in popular holiday destinations across the continent.
Brussels put the Affordable Housing Act before the European Parliament on Wednesday, aiming to give towns and cities the power to curb holiday-home ownership in areas under “housing stress”.
The law would establish a framework across Europe for identifying “stressed housing markets”, letting councils smash Britons with “targeted, necessary and proportionate” restrictions.
Local leaders in places like Spain have blamed foreign property investors for inflating prices and creating housing shortages for residents.
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The EU’s support for such measures could make it significantly harder for British buyers to purchase homes abroad.
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For the legal framework to apply, an area’s average house price must be eight times higher than the average local annual income.
That ratio must have risen over the preceding decade, and there must be no expectation of relief within three years.
Dirk Gotink, a Dutch MEP from the centrist New Social Contract party, warned the law will have “serious consequences” for Britons.
“The ideological colouring of this proposal is quite clear,” he told The Telegraph. “It gives legal backing to people who want to restrict buying.”
He added that tourist hotspots in Spain, Croatia, Italy and France would be most affected, but argued the legislation would do “nothing” to resolve Europe’s housing crisis.
“We do not need an EU regulation,” he said. “We are solving a national problem and that is not the whole point of EU law.”
Spanish conservative MEP Borja Gimenez Larraz said he was “deeply concerned” by the restrictions on second homes.
He said: “Such an interventionist approach has had negative effects on employment and economic activity where it has been applied, including in France and Switzerland, while also raising serious concerns about the protection of the fundamental right to private property.”
A fierce backlash against tourists and short-term lets, particularly Airbnb, has swept parts of Europe in recent years.
Legal challenges in Spain, Portugal and France had previously deterred local authorities from acting, but the EU’s backing is expected to embolden them.
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Last year, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez proposed a 100 per cent tax on property purchases by non-EU residents, branding these buyers “speculators” who are out “just to make money”.
Such a measure could effectively double the cost of Spanish property for British buyers.
Though he then proceeded to further pile pressure on his country’s housing crisis by granting legal settlement rights to north of one million migrants.
The Balearic Islands went even further earlier this year, proposing to ban home purchases by non-residents entirely to “prioritise the houses that are for living in”.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has backed the new law: “Lack of affordable housing is a matter of concern for so many of our European citizens.
“Essential workers and students cannot afford to live where they serve and study.”
She added that the legislation will provide “support” and “clarity” to local authorities, saying: “We are delivering for all Europeans.”
A consultation on the proposals found that member states and major cities feared expensive litigation following crackdowns on short-term rentals and second homes.
The Commission says the proposal neither recommends restrictions nor introduces new powers, but offers greater legal certainty.
The legislation must still pass through the European Parliament and Council before becoming law.
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