PROPERTY SEARCH

Date Published: 11/04/2024

Scrapping the Golden Visa will not have a big effect on property market, say experts

Removing the Golden Visa will have very little real-world effect for Spain and for foreign buyers

The Spanish government announced this Monday, April 8, its intention to end the so-called ‘Golden Visa’, a law that allows foreign investors to obtain a residence permit if they purchase homes worth 500,000 euros or more. The government’s stated aim is to minimise market property speculation and free up housing for lower-income families.

However, several experts within the real estate sector have been quick to point out that the real impact of this measure will be minimal on the market, and that doing away with the 500-600 Golden Visas granted each year for the purchase of luxury homes will do little to help the thousands of people in need of social housing. It will neither bring property prices down nor free up more housing supply.

The former president of the Spanish Association of Real Estate Personal Shoppers (AEPSI), Iñaki Unsain, said, “The elimination of the Golden Visa makes no sense whatsoever, as the amount granted each year in Spain is minimal. Therefore, the only thing they are going to achieve is that the investment of foreigners who want to buy property in our country will go back a little further.”

He underscores, “If a foreigner wants to buy a property in Spain, they will buy. The Golden Visa was a simple incentive, so without it, they will buy exactly the same, making the variation of this type of foreign client absolutely minimal.”

Most of the beneficiaries of the Golden Visa over the last 11 years it has been in place in Spain have been Chinese and Russian citizens hoping to buy residency in Europe. Since Brexit, British buyers have been the third most common nationality to benefit from the Golden Visa scheme, but it still amounts to barely 100 people per year.

There are many other ways to get a visa or residency to be able to live in Spain, including studying, working or just having the means to support yourself and have private medical insurance, all of which are much more popular avenues than the Golden Visa ever was.

The ending of the Golden Visa programme in Spain will not have a major effect on the housing market, on foreigners wishing to settle in the country or on investment in Spain’s economy.

Image: Archive

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