Spain in the OECD: lack of respect for private property.

Spain is one of the OECD countries with the least respect for property rights. The country ranks 26th out of 38 in the OECD's International Property Rights Index (IPRI) with a score that is 6.1% below the OECD average and 5% below the EU average. This result is due to the legislative and political environment that is associated with property, both tangible and intellectual.

The only good results are obtained in the analysis of property registers, where Spain ranks seventh in the world. This is one of the conclusions of a report published on Wednesday by the Institute of Economic Research (IEI), which is the 'think tank' of the Council of Spanish Industrialists and Entrepreneurs' In the case of 'rent, the supply of housing will be artificially reduced, allowing owners to be more demanding when choosing tenants.

In Catalonia, indeed, the rent controls recently introduced are already driving up prices. The solution to high rents, according to the report, is to provide more legal protection for landlords and partially address the problem of illegal occupancy. The RPI also calls for a reduction in the disparity between tenant and landlord legal protections to stimulate supply.

In order to increase the number of affordable housing units, the IIE, along with the Council's think tank' 'Spanish Industrialists and Entrepreneurs calls for the development of public housing for rent, whose share in Spain is far from European figures, and to promote the development of public land, eliminating "rigidities and restrictions in urban planning regulations that limit the adequate development of affordable housing for rent". The organization is also evaluating the introduction of tax incentives for the construction of rental housing.

The organization says property taxation is currently high, which "reduces the effective exercise of property rights and negatively affects the efficient use of such resources, which negatively affects investment and savings." If the International Entitlement Index' 'property would take into account the impact of property taxes, the average OECD estimate would fall by 5.6%, but the decline would be greater - 7% in the case of Spain, which demonstrates that it "has a more harmful tax system for property in comparison".