BuySellBA
Administrator
No inventory apartment rentals Buenos Aires - La Nación
August 20, 2023
By: Carla Quiroga
The opposition seeks a way to reach the 129 votes it needs for the law to be changed and the real estate market admits that the current law was a "nuclear bomb" that did not help anyone.
Rents are going through the worst crisis in their history
Rents are going through the worst crisis in their history . There are less than 900 apartments available and listed in the city of Buenos Aires and the demand validates the prices asked for by the owners. In fact, in just one week, the few that had apartments on sale increased their prices by more than 25%.
Others directly switched the contract to US Dollars — they accept payments in pesos but at the blue value (black market rate). -. They also "hand select" who they will close a contract with.
“Many do not want large families or families with teenagers, or tenants with pets”, admits a real estate broker and emphasized: “they demand verifiable income that in some cases is even triple the monthly rental amount”, the broker explains and admits that in recent days there has been a flurry to change from the traditional long-term contract to the Airbnb format of short-term rentals. "Today there are almost 15,000 properties for temporary rentals ," says the real estate broker, Armando Pepe.
In this context, a key week is coming up. In the real estate sector, they are excited about the possibility that next Wednesday, Deputies will advance with the votes needed to reform the rental law. The bet is to introduce some modifications to the existing law. Everything indicates that the negotiations will finish closing between Tuesday or Wednesday.
How to negotiate in Congress
The opposition is working on changes and is confident that it will bring forth the 129 deputies it needs to start the session that is formally convened next Wednesday. Juntos alone does not reach the number to change the law. To succeed, it must be negotiated with the federal blocks (Unidad Federal and Interbloque Federal) .
"Last week they had two zooms to review modifications to the minority opinion, which is that of the opposition, to reach an agreement and achieve the number to start the session," says Lorena Zapata, journalistic director of the news agency Legislative Public Sphere.
In principle , the idea is not to repeal the current rule but to modify the minority opinion . Zapata clarifies that this opinion could only be dealt with when the majority is rejected, which is that of the ruling party. In other words, the steps are: achieve a quorum to open the session, reject the opinion of the majority, and only in that instance could the minority opinion be dealt with — that of Together for Change — and in the same debate the modifications would be proposed.
" This is the legislative process that the issue must have and it is complex to achieve it just a few days after the ,mid-term elections (PASA)," Zapata acknowledges and adds that if there is a political agreement and a quorum is achieved (the 129 legislators in the room) " it's a ton".
Regarding Milei's position on the issue, the party has three seats in Deputies and since the election result, they have not appeared in Congress. “ In the two years they did not participate in the negotiations or in the committee meetings on this issue ”, clarifies Zapata.
The Opposition fights to add the number of legislators so that the rental law is dealt with next Wednesday
The strategy of Together for Change (Juntos) is to achieve the number. In fact, they considered the possibility of contacting them but for now they did not. Zapata affirms that the opposition hopes to be able to count them among the 129 quorum since Libertad Avanza signed with Juntos and the federal blocs the request for a session to revisit the Law.
Within the Front for All (Frente para Todos) there is no uniform position. There is a large part of the legislators of the party who believe that the current law must be modified, but there is still no consensus. “The strategy is that if the opposition achieves a quorum, they go down to the venue but they will not give the number to start the debate. It is the responsibility of the opposition to obtain a quorum”, clarifies Zapata.
The majority opinion, which is that of the ruling party , practically does not introduce changes to the controversial law sanctioned in 2020: it proposes maintaining the three-year contracts, an update based on the CPI and RIPTE, making the presentation of guarantees and tax benefits more flexible, such as exemption from personal property. It also establishes that owners who are monotributistas do not have the obligation to go to the general tax regime if they have any property for rent.
While Together for Change proposes returning to two-year contracts, an adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index (IPC), the Wholesale Price Index (IPM) and/or the Wage Index (IS) prepared by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) or a combination of these indices ; and updates freely negotiated between the parties - which could start after three months. This point is strongly resisted by the Tenants Associations who insist that the annual adjustment proposed by the current law generates certain predictability for the tenant.
A distorted market
The legislative treatment would take place in a totally distorted market without reference prices, values in dollars, contracts closed outside the law and owners who, faced with so much lack of control, negotiate extra payments to cover themselves from inflation. “It is chaos. Properties are rented to friends or relatives outside the law and if they do not have that option, they migrate to temporary rentals”, acknowledges Gómez Picasso. Also, leases that expire are not renewed. “ Now they are extended and for only three months, until before the elections that period was between six months and one year ”, says Enrique Abatti, a lawyer specializing in the sector and president of the Homeowners Association.
Alejandro Bennazar, president of the Real Estate Chamber of Argentina (CIA) is confident that the law will be dealt with this week in Congress. "The issue has to be put on the agenda," he insists. The CIA proposal is an update every four months with the index established by the Central Bank that takes wages and inflation as a reference and that the terms of the contracts be 24 months as established by the norm prior to the one sanctioned in 2020. They are still realistic and know that there is a long way to go: if it advances in Deputies, the approval of the Senate would be lacking, a process that would last until 2024, in an Argentina with another government .
From the Professional Real Estate Association of the City of Buenos Aires (CPI) they plan to meet with legislators today Monday holiday. From Fundación Pensar, Iván Kerr, former Secretary of Housing for the Nation during the government of Mauricio Macri, is more skeptical and believes that the law will not be debated until after the elections. From the Chambers of the sector they hope that the issue will be dealt with before. They are concerned about Javier Milei's position on the subject.
Milei does not endorse the regulation of the rental market. Natacha Pisarenko - AP
The intuition of the real estate market is that the candidate is not focused on this issue. " His vision is that everything is private, so why should a president get involved in an agreement between an owner and a tenant ," say the real estate brokers, convinced that the candidate's position is that there should be no law and that he would somehow eliminate the role of the State as computer.
However, it transpired that La Libertad Avanza is working on a new standard in which the parties agree on the time, update and currency conditions . In fact, in March 2022, the candidate expressed on his Twitter account that the country did not need a new rental law and that it had to be eliminated. "There is no need to interfere in private contracts, otherwise the most vulnerable will continue to be harmed with fewer properties, of lower quality and at more expensive prices," said his post.
www.buysellba.com
August 20, 2023
By: Carla Quiroga
The opposition seeks a way to reach the 129 votes it needs for the law to be changed and the real estate market admits that the current law was a "nuclear bomb" that did not help anyone.
Rents are going through the worst crisis in their history
Rents are going through the worst crisis in their history . There are less than 900 apartments available and listed in the city of Buenos Aires and the demand validates the prices asked for by the owners. In fact, in just one week, the few that had apartments on sale increased their prices by more than 25%.
Others directly switched the contract to US Dollars — they accept payments in pesos but at the blue value (black market rate). -. They also "hand select" who they will close a contract with.
“Many do not want large families or families with teenagers, or tenants with pets”, admits a real estate broker and emphasized: “they demand verifiable income that in some cases is even triple the monthly rental amount”, the broker explains and admits that in recent days there has been a flurry to change from the traditional long-term contract to the Airbnb format of short-term rentals. "Today there are almost 15,000 properties for temporary rentals ," says the real estate broker, Armando Pepe.
“ The law sanctioned in 2020, the lack of supply and inflation generated a nuclear bomb in this market in which demand validates any price ”, said, Germán Gómez Picasso, director of Real Estate Report. Their surveys of the last 10 days indicate that the year-on-year increase in studio apartments was 289% higher and in 1 bedroom apartments, 250% higher. "These are increases that occurred due to the shortage of supply," he says.In this context, a key week is coming up. In the real estate sector, they are excited about the possibility that next Wednesday, Deputies will advance with the votes needed to reform the rental law. The bet is to introduce some modifications to the existing law. Everything indicates that the negotiations will finish closing between Tuesday or Wednesday.
How to negotiate in Congress
The opposition is working on changes and is confident that it will bring forth the 129 deputies it needs to start the session that is formally convened next Wednesday. Juntos alone does not reach the number to change the law. To succeed, it must be negotiated with the federal blocks (Unidad Federal and Interbloque Federal) .
"Last week they had two zooms to review modifications to the minority opinion, which is that of the opposition, to reach an agreement and achieve the number to start the session," says Lorena Zapata, journalistic director of the news agency Legislative Public Sphere.
In principle , the idea is not to repeal the current rule but to modify the minority opinion . Zapata clarifies that this opinion could only be dealt with when the majority is rejected, which is that of the ruling party. In other words, the steps are: achieve a quorum to open the session, reject the opinion of the majority, and only in that instance could the minority opinion be dealt with — that of Together for Change — and in the same debate the modifications would be proposed.
" This is the legislative process that the issue must have and it is complex to achieve it just a few days after the ,mid-term elections (PASA)," Zapata acknowledges and adds that if there is a political agreement and a quorum is achieved (the 129 legislators in the room) " it's a ton".
Regarding Milei's position on the issue, the party has three seats in Deputies and since the election result, they have not appeared in Congress. “ In the two years they did not participate in the negotiations or in the committee meetings on this issue ”, clarifies Zapata.
The Opposition fights to add the number of legislators so that the rental law is dealt with next Wednesday
The strategy of Together for Change (Juntos) is to achieve the number. In fact, they considered the possibility of contacting them but for now they did not. Zapata affirms that the opposition hopes to be able to count them among the 129 quorum since Libertad Avanza signed with Juntos and the federal blocs the request for a session to revisit the Law.
Within the Front for All (Frente para Todos) there is no uniform position. There is a large part of the legislators of the party who believe that the current law must be modified, but there is still no consensus. “The strategy is that if the opposition achieves a quorum, they go down to the venue but they will not give the number to start the debate. It is the responsibility of the opposition to obtain a quorum”, clarifies Zapata.
The majority opinion, which is that of the ruling party , practically does not introduce changes to the controversial law sanctioned in 2020: it proposes maintaining the three-year contracts, an update based on the CPI and RIPTE, making the presentation of guarantees and tax benefits more flexible, such as exemption from personal property. It also establishes that owners who are monotributistas do not have the obligation to go to the general tax regime if they have any property for rent.
While Together for Change proposes returning to two-year contracts, an adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index (IPC), the Wholesale Price Index (IPM) and/or the Wage Index (IS) prepared by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) or a combination of these indices ; and updates freely negotiated between the parties - which could start after three months. This point is strongly resisted by the Tenants Associations who insist that the annual adjustment proposed by the current law generates certain predictability for the tenant.
A distorted market
The legislative treatment would take place in a totally distorted market without reference prices, values in dollars, contracts closed outside the law and owners who, faced with so much lack of control, negotiate extra payments to cover themselves from inflation. “It is chaos. Properties are rented to friends or relatives outside the law and if they do not have that option, they migrate to temporary rentals”, acknowledges Gómez Picasso. Also, leases that expire are not renewed. “ Now they are extended and for only three months, until before the elections that period was between six months and one year ”, says Enrique Abatti, a lawyer specializing in the sector and president of the Homeowners Association.
Alejandro Bennazar, president of the Real Estate Chamber of Argentina (CIA) is confident that the law will be dealt with this week in Congress. "The issue has to be put on the agenda," he insists. The CIA proposal is an update every four months with the index established by the Central Bank that takes wages and inflation as a reference and that the terms of the contracts be 24 months as established by the norm prior to the one sanctioned in 2020. They are still realistic and know that there is a long way to go: if it advances in Deputies, the approval of the Senate would be lacking, a process that would last until 2024, in an Argentina with another government .
From the Professional Real Estate Association of the City of Buenos Aires (CPI) they plan to meet with legislators today Monday holiday. From Fundación Pensar, Iván Kerr, former Secretary of Housing for the Nation during the government of Mauricio Macri, is more skeptical and believes that the law will not be debated until after the elections. From the Chambers of the sector they hope that the issue will be dealt with before. They are concerned about Javier Milei's position on the subject.
Milei does not endorse the regulation of the rental market. Natacha Pisarenko - AP
The intuition of the real estate market is that the candidate is not focused on this issue. " His vision is that everything is private, so why should a president get involved in an agreement between an owner and a tenant ," say the real estate brokers, convinced that the candidate's position is that there should be no law and that he would somehow eliminate the role of the State as computer.
However, it transpired that La Libertad Avanza is working on a new standard in which the parties agree on the time, update and currency conditions . In fact, in March 2022, the candidate expressed on his Twitter account that the country did not need a new rental law and that it had to be eliminated. "There is no need to interfere in private contracts, otherwise the most vulnerable will continue to be harmed with fewer properties, of lower quality and at more expensive prices," said his post.
www.buysellba.com
