Spain has provided 100% tax for houses bought by non-EU residents

Spain plans to impose a tax of up to 100% on properties 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 needed to respond to the country’s housing emergency.

“The West faces a decisive challenge: not to become a society divided into two classes, rich owners and poor tenants,” he said.

Non-EU residents bought 27,000 properties in Spain in 2023, he told an economic forum in Madrid, “not to live” but “to make money from them”.

“Which, in the context of scarcity in which we are, (we) obviously cannot afford it,” he added.

The move was therefore designed to “prioritize that available homes are for residents,” he said.

Sánchez did not provide details on how the tax would work or a timetable for presenting it to parliament for approval, where he has often struggled to muster enough votes to pass legislation.

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

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

Other measures announced include a tax break for landlords who provide affordable housing, the transfer of more than 3,000 houses to a new public housing body, and tighter regulation and higher taxes on tourist apartments .

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