Andalusia housing chief calls for national evictions summit

The Andalusian chief of public works and housing, Elena Cortés, on Thursday called on the central government to organize a conference involving all the regions to debate the burning issue of evictions.

She also hoped the conference would give the Andalusian regional government the opportunity to explain in detail the new decree on social housing it approved on Tuesday, under which it plans to seize the homes of the needyiestfamilies subject to eviction for up to three years.

Cortés said the central administration has a "golden opportunity" to advance in the same direction by passing the Popular Legislative Initiative on evictions presented in Congress by the Mortgage Victims Platform, which supports dation in payment — canceling a mortgage by handing back the keys to the bank — social housing, changes to mortgage laws and civil lawsuits, and the halting of eviction procedures.

Cortés explained the region's new social housing decree would come into effect on Friday, allowing eligible families to apply for a temporary seizure of their home at one of the housing protection offices it opened in Andalusia's various provincial capitals last October.

The regional government calculates that 200 Andalusian families could benefit from the first phase of the temporary seizure plan — the number who have already requested protection against eviction at the offices.

According to a study released by the College of Property Registrars on Thursday, 30,034 first homes were taken over by banks in Spain in 2012 — or 115 a day.