A rally called Stop Layoffs took place on Thursday in front of the Boulevard kiosk. They denounce the proliferation of temporary contracts for the rental of conventional homes, although these are “illegal”. The members of the platform were accompanied by representatives of Juntos Podemos, EH Reunidos, Leftist Plural, Caritas de Larratxo, Satorralaia and Steilas, as well as two of the affected people: Gina and Pilar. As Fernando, who has not been present during the outbreak, they have temporary rental contracts that will have to deal with the same situation at the end of them, even if they are at different times.

Gina lives with her husband, daughter, son-in-law and nephew in an apartment in Parte Vieja. His second contract of 11 consecutive months expired on October 30. The landlord sued him for dismissal and Gina’s lawyer filed allegations that the situation was considered out of law. A judicial agreement has been reached to convert this illegal temporary contract into a five-year legal contract. Fernando, 73, who has not been to the press conference, pays 300 euros for a room in the Old Part. He is awaiting trial, but hopes that the allegations presented by the lawyer will lead to the same result as Gina. Pilar lives in Errenteria with her two children and pays 815 euros. His six-month lease will expire on May 30. Since Renteria is a high-voltage area, since January 31 the Housing Law has been used to request an automatic extension of three years. “All contracts that expire after January 31 may require a three-year extension. We have done so by sending a burofax to its owner,” explains Rosa Garcia, a member of the platform.

“Temporary contracts must specify their purpose: forced displacement by work or study because you are doing some work at home... They cannot be used for conventional housing. They are governed by the City Lease Act. That’s why they’re legal fraud and illegal.” In these three cases, it is a habitual dwelling, in which they are registered and continue to pay the rent.

Given Gina’s background, it is anticipated that the trend will be the same for the rest. For this reason, they have taken advantage of the outbreak to warn and make known to tenants who are forced to sign temporary contracts in conventional homes that they have the tools to “convert these types of contracts that are not regulated by the Urban Lease Act and the Housing Act into a five-year contract, if you are a small landlord, or a seven-year contract, if you are a large landlord.”

In fact, it has been reported that temporary rental contracts are being promoted on real estate websites and that private landlords also follow this path without knowing if they are illegal or not. García calls it a “mockery” because such contracts allow them to increase the rental price each time they sign the new one. Regulated rentals, on the other hand, ensure that the same price is maintained for five to seven years, simply by upgrading the CPI.

It also warns homeowners that they will lose in court and will have to pay the costs. Instead of following the dynamics of investment funds and large homeowners, he proposes to support the Basque Government’s Bizigune program to end this “social drama”.