Brits buying properties in Spain could be hit by a tax of up to 100per cent, the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced.
The plans will impact non-residents buying property from outside of the EU, which includes the UK, in an effort to tackle the country’s housing crisis.
He described the measure as “unprecedented” and explained that the aim was to prevent foreign buyers from purchasing homes that they “would not live in”.
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The Prime Minister said: “In 2023 alone, non-EU residents bought 27,000 houses and flats, not to live in them, they did it mainly to speculate. To make money from them. Something that we cannot afford in the context of the scarcity we are experiencing.”
Many Brits have properties in Spain, including on the island of Majorca -Credit:Getty Images
He added that the tax burden on foreign buyers would be “up to 100 per cent of the value of the property”, Spanish News Today reports.
Mr Sanchez told an economic forum in Madrid that “the west faces a decisive challenge: to not become a society divided into two classes, the rich landlords and poor tenants.”
According to Spanish News Today, Brits make up the largest non-EU group of property buyers, making up 8.37 per cent in 2023. Buyers from Germany, Morocco and Romania also feature prominently. Data also shows that property buyers make up nearly 15 per cent property transactions in Spain between April and June 2023.
Other measures were announced which included stricter regulations on seasonal rentals and and tax exemption for landlords who rent out their properties for affordable housing, both designed to ease Spain’s housing crisis.
Further details on how the tax would work are yet to be announced, and there is currently no timeline on when the measures will be presented to parliament for approval.
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