Dick Dasterdly

http://www.thelocal.es/20140528/huma...pain-evictions

Yet Spain has more than enough empty properties to house all of Europe's homeless.

http://www.thelocal.es/20140225/spai...pty-properties

two tubes of toothpaste

Are you suggesting that empty British holiday homes could come under a Government scheme whereby they could be commandeered and homeless families moved in rent free ?

mikelincs

But does Spain have enough money to look after all those homeless people. I suspect the outcome would be a huge area of slum type houses after a while, as those homeless who are just wanting to live on benefits take advantae of the great benefit system that Spain has... ermmm hasn't it?

missile

Wow, that suggestion could give some of us insomnia

two tubes of toothpaste

I think that what Dick is suggesting is an EU scheme where the homeless of Europe are moved to Spain, and are provided with work by EU paid for projects.

missile

That would turn Spain into a dumping ground for the homeless, a pseudo welfare state.

cricketman

What language would these people speak? And what education would they receive?

Actually I dont know why I am commenting. There are plenty of empty houses in the UK you know, especially second residencies. London has hundreds of thousands of empty properties which are used as investment vehicles, nobody has ever lived in them.

If you walk on the South bank from Kingston to the Docklands you will see hundreds of shiny glass and steel structures which are supposedly luxury apartment buildings, but many have barely a soul living in them

two tubes of toothpaste

I don't think any Government is going to return to the catastrophic Marxist policy of confiscation of property as a solution. Private building of anything would come to an immediate stop.

Returning to OP's original point about Spanish evictions and empty property, but which also applies to London, there is no point allocating people accommodation if there is no work in the area suitable for them, or is not where people want to live. Op's original article mentioned whole ghost towns being built. Sure, put people there, but what then ? Starve them to death ?

missile

It is not that I am better than those who are homeless / living rent free on benefit - often though no fault of their own. I just would not want to live next door to them.

Rosemary

A family of five was evicted from their house in my street more than two years ago as they were unable to pay their mortgage and the house is still empty and unsold.

Rosemary

andyrich666

Well evict with force them when it is under offer, give them reduced mortgage until that time.

cricketman

Nobody will buy a house if the owners are still in it and need to be evicted forcefully

Saying that, these houses will be empty unless the banks reduce the prices to a market price - but then that would bankrupt the banks, and the country...

First and foremost, this crisis in Spain is a housing and credit crisis. They gave out too much credit and put too high prices on too much housing so the market was flooded with capital which then kept the rest of the economy soaring

A complete false economy

Btw, the story in the UK isnt so different. The way prices are rising now in the UK, it could be in Spain's position sooner or later

stuboy

Good analysis, however I don't think the UK will be affected in the same way as Spain. House prices in the South East and London particularly are out of control. The rest of the country is a lot more stable. I believe in Spain property prices were inflated in all parts.

two tubes of toothpaste

And yet isn't that what the regions are starting to do ? Introduce taxes and fines for properties kept on the banks books for too long in an effort to -

a) Dump them on the market.
b) Deal more leniently with mortgage defaulters, so that repossession is even less economical.

The value of the properties have been written down/off long ago, and that's what has been replaced by the €41 billion loan from the EU.

Anything they get from the sale of properties now is gravy.

cricketman

No, no, no, no

The "Loan" from the EU wasnt even paid, it was an insurance but it didnt actually go to the banks, it stayed firmly in Brussels

The banks have to sell the properties close to the price they say they are worth on the balance sheets. Every year or two, they are "made" to readjust their values, but given that most of them havent sold yet, I would say they are still way overvalued

There is always a buyer at the right price