Spain foresees a 100% tax for houses bought by residents outside the EU

Spain plans to impose a tax of up to 100% on real estate 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 crisis.

“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 homes in Spain in 2023, he said at an economic forum in Madrid, “not to live in” but “to make money with them”.

“That, in the context of the lack we are in, (we) obviously cannot accept”, he added.

As such, he thought of the move as “prioritizing affordable housing for residents.”

Sánchez did not give details of how the tax would work, or a time frame for it to be submitted to parliament, where legislation has often struggled to muster enough votes to pass.

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

It is one of a dozen measures announced by the prime minister on Monday, aimed at improving housing affordability in the country.

Other measures announced include a tax exemption for landlords offering affordable housing, the transfer of more than 3,000 homes to a new public housing agency, and stricter regulation and higher taxes on tourist flats.

“It is not fair that those who have three, four or five apartments as short-term rentals pay less tax than hotels,” he said.