Ibizan 868.Pub

Key to the back door, Butt me no Butts! One Pacha’s Funky Roon man’s mission to keep our now in its 21st year. beaches clean, plus free Their secret? It’s all beer for butts! Page 6 about the hips. Balearic Tourist Letting Laws Passed & Enforced Nick Gibbs There are 4 key points of change. Habitual Housing – new scheme allowing private home The much anticipated new laws governing the rental of Holders of existing tourism licences – unaffected. owners to let their own house for up to 60 days. private property to the tourist sector have been ap- Houses without a licence – new registration criteria. new 5 Apartments- - prohibition on private letting of apartments proved and in force from Saturday 22nd July 2017. year licences, applications subject to area zoning. repealed. ….……………………...ctd page 2 The Ibizan, Issue 868, 20th July 2017 links are live in the online edition at theibizan.com Page 2 News Editorial In news such as these changes to housing/rental law I would like nothing more than the simple job of reporting straightforward facts in an easy to understand way. That would be quicker, and in terms of imparting information, more effective. Alas, such hopes are dashed. I have news of this fundamental piece of law affecting many of our readers, and yet in conveying it on the page I am left honestly baffled as to what it is for, what it is meant to achieve, and in this particular case why it even comes with an inbuilt self-sabotage function. I do not set out to pull holes in the text. I do not have an agenda of wanting to out smart the text. But when I read it, and reread, and read it again, it is just baffling to me. The task of revising our legislation was required in reflecting a difficult housing market and increasing tourism pressure in all aspects of our Balearic lives. For a whole year the best minds we have to offer have been on the case. And the result is,… well it’s nonsense isn’t it? Am I going insane? To work through the points as I see them. Licences Those who already had a licence will continue to have a licence. Their situation is unchanged, the market is unchanged, and their operation is unchanged. Given the highly attractive returns of letting to the tourist mar- Status Quo. All existing licences are confirmed permanent for life, regardless of location ket, we must consider that a large proportion of properties that would ever be let to tourists already are let to tourists. Let us call it 80% for arguments sake. Add to that there is absolutely no prospect of any relaxation in new building developments that would increase that stock by any Tourist Letting Laws Explained ... significant amount. So in reality any changes you make to the system will have a very consider the different property availability and pricing in differ- small effect on the actual property in use. By 2020 the new rules ent areas of the Balearic Islands. might be covering 2% of legally registered private tourism rent- Existing Licences; No Change als. Owners with an existing licence are given a right of continuance The legislation is regional and has to be applied on a regional basis. However each island has its own Consell who are given Also those properties with existing licences will be unaffected by in the new law which says they can retain their licence regardless the new zones. So again a huge amount of work going into a of whether their property falls within an area that is zoned per- delegated powers to implement the law according to their own island’s needs. minute ratio of properties. missible or exclusion established as part of the new legislation Taking all of these points together, what the legislation has relating to new applications. It is perfectly reasonable to assume that there could be areas in Majorca where there is considerable further capacity for tourists, achieved, is that 80% in the business of renting to tourists contin- Documentation stressed that this could only apply to detached ue to do so as they have always done and the small number that houses and town houses, as until this point in time they are the where they do not have the infrastructure pressures experienced in Ibiza and that the local community would be in support of will follow under new and more stringent administration will be only types of property that have been able to obtain a legal li- of negligible effect to the property supply. cence. legislation that would increase tourism and the income of the local resident community. This last minute change to the previ- The net result is nil in improving our availability for residents, and a few percent in greater controls of the tourist sector. ously absolute and sacrosanct prohibition on renting apartments was made to allow that flexibility at local level. Zones New 5 Year Licences from 2018 Houses without a licence – 1 year moratorium, new registration It feels that the last thing our politicians need is another issue to criteria. new 5 year licences, all applications subject to an overrid- squabble over. I can think of no issue more likely to attract ing criteria of needing to be within a permissible zone for an Ibiza Interpretation squabbling than the opposite sides of the ‘can rent/can’t rent’ application to be made. The situation in Ibiza is very different and it is fair to say that zones. As from Tuesday 18th July a one year moratorium is in effect even if a political party’s doctrine made them inclined to remove By definition in every situation you will have a person on both which will prevent any further homes being registered for tour- restrictions and allow the open market, it would be political sui- sides of the line who wants to be allowed to rent and not allowed ism rentals. During this year the island must decide what areas cide to do so at this moment in time. Imagine a political party to rent. The regional government may call it devolution, but it are suitable for the issue of tourism licences and which areas running for the UK general election on a mandate that they feels more like passing the buck. should be excluded. It is required of them that they must have would double income tax. That is probably a fair analogy to a There will be a huge amount of effort in this revised system and this in place by the end of the moratorium. party running who wanted to allow open market tourist lettings. the set up of zones, when for many years to come rental proper- Once applications for licences are available again, and assuming Though it is unlikely we will see any party in Ibiza putting their ties affected by those zones will amount to no more than 1/2/3% the applicant can fulfil all the requirements for registration, the head over the parapet to propose any removal of restrictions on of the available stock. licence will only be issued on a 5 year term. No new permanent the letting of apartments prior to an election, the possibility licences are available in any circumstance. must be conceived that once in power, there would be nothing to 60 days Private House Rental stop a party changing the regulations. There is no information available on whether the island is re- At first sight I thought there could be some positive motivation quired to allocate areas for tourist licences on any given criteria behind this. For example a family paying more than they can such as a ratio of the land area, or ratio of properties. From the really afford, can let their house for one month, snuggle in with information provided there is nothing to say how much of the Black & White, Now Grey the in-laws and get back the Ibiza premium covering their rent for island the Consell is obliged to allocate as permissible, if any at Whilst understanding the needs of the other islands, there will be much of the year. But then you come to the clause that they have all, nor how it must be shared. many people involved with Ibiza’s housing issues who will have imposed a 2000€ levy on the registration fee. This levy can be in felt a moment of dark terror to hear that that absolute rule is no no relationship to the cost of actually registering a property, it is longer so. clearly designed in some way punitive or dissuasive. Let Your Own Home Scheme Ibiza’s political parties have a history of each holding just a single So why do it? What is the point in taking all the time to put in Habitual Housing – new scheme allowing private home owners of term in office before being voted out and the opposition taking place a system, to use up public services and administrative ser- any type to let their own permanent residence for a maximum of over. A game of political see-saw ensues with each undoing the vices to establish a scheme that you know you have made point- 60 days per year, subject to a 2,000€ registration fee. other’s work and reversing policy. This factor alone will cause less by the price? Baffling. In a new development to our property and rental regulations, a some concerns. scheme of allowing owners to rent their own permanent place of Also there is the nature of the grey area that has been created.

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