The acting Ombudsman of Spain, Francisco Fernández Marugán, has recommended the Community of Madrid that, when allocating social emergency housing, priority should be given to evicted families with minors who do not have a housing alternative.
In most of the complaints dealt with in this matter, the Ombudsman has found that the Autonomous Community Administration of Madrid does not initiate the social emergency procedure to offer temporary accommodation to families with minors evicted from their homes, as it considers that they do not meet the necessary requirements.
Restrictive criteria
In the opinion of the Ombudsman, the limited situations of social emergency reflected in the autonomous norm and the interpretation made of it by the Community of Madrid, mean that very few families are eligible for these homes.
In fact, Decree 52/2016, which regulates the process of awarding housing to the Social Housing Agency of the Community of Madrid, establishes that in order for the process of awarding social emergency housing to begin, the eviction from the home must occur as a consequence of a decrease in income and that there must be an extraordinary event that occurs.
However, the Institution recalls that eviction itself constitutes a social emergency and, although it understands that the Administration cannot offer solutions to all cases of evictions in the region, it does consider it necessary to redefine the law in order to safeguard the general principles of protection for children and families.
In this context, the institution has recommended that article 18 of Decree 52/2016 be amended to give priority to access to emergency social housing for families with minors who have been evicted from their habitual residence and who do not have a housing alternative.
In addition, the Ombudsman believes that the rule should extend the cases of non-payment and assess the actual financial situation of the applicant for social emergency housing, regardless of whether or not it occurs.
Lack of express resolution
On the other hand, the Institution has also verified in the complaints received that the applicants for housing adjudication through the social emergency procedure do not receive notification of the resolution by which the Administration finalizes and archives its actions, once it verifies that they do not meet the necessary requirements.
For the Ombudsman, the lack of an express resolution on the part of the Department of Housing prevents the challenge of said decision and leaves the applicants completely defenseless.
For this reason, and within the framework of an ex officio action, it has asked the Community of Madrid to report on whether it is complying with the provisions of Decree 52/2016, which states that “the resolution issued to this effect must be notified to the interested party”.
Finally, it has also required the number of dwellings that have been awarded under the social emergency procedure since its creation.
