The founder of the UNESCO Chair in Housing has been asked to appear before the committee this Wednesday. He will do so alongside around twenty other experts proposed by parliamentary groups

Nasarre will explain to the Committee what he considers the “mistakes” made by legislators over the past 17 years in housing matters, which have led many families to be unable to buy or rent, as the expert already pointed out years ago. He will also propose some solutions, such as increasing territorial cohesion, diversifying forms of housing tenure, and repealing regulations that have increasingly reduced protections for accessing housing.

This will not be the first time Nasarre has appeared before the Spanish Parliament. In 2022, he appeared before the Committee on Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda to provide his views on the Bill on the Right to Housing, where he was critical of its taking over of competencies exclusive to the regional governments (and which the Constitutional Court has partially declared unconstitutional for this reason) and the alteration of the essential content of property rights. He was also dissatisfied with some of the specific measures proposed for high-demand areas, such as rent controls or the protection of squatters.

The UNESCO Chair in Housing

The UNESCO Chair in Housing of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili is the first of its kind in the world and is a partner of the United Nations in its efforts to implement its New Urban Agenda. The chair takes on board the work of interdisciplinary researchers from the past 25 years and has 12 public and private partners. The Chair has driven the creation of 6 housing laws, advised public and private entities, and has led or participated in 31 national and international competitive research projects. It has 18 researchers and has trained over 10,000 professionals in housing. Its research has impacted over 47 million people. Since 2013, the Chair’s researchers have published 200 papers in 15 countries and delivered 356 lectures in 32 other countries.

Its research covers all areas of housing and housing law, from homelessness to the mortgage market, housing tenures (ownership, rental, intermediate tenures), housing organization (horizontal ownership, cooperatives), financing (mortgages), housing as a human right, housing and new technologies, collaborative housing, real estate professionals, social housing, and consumer rights.