Spanish socialist leader Pedro Sánchez has found an unlikely admirer of his proposal to introduce a 100 percent tax on non-EU foreigners purchasing real estate in his country in former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who vowed to push for a similar measure in Czechia should he return to power after the next election.
Although the two politicians are on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, Babiš, the leader of the ANO movement currently leading in the polls, expressed his full support for Sánchez’s argument that speculative property purchases by foreign investors had driven up housing costs and worsened affordability for local residents.
“Even though I disagree with Sánchez on many things, I think this is a great idea, and I really like it. If we return to government, I will push for the same measure in our country,” Babis told Echo24. “And not just for houses and apartments — this should apply to land as well. Too often, foreign buyers acquire Czech land using questionable financial sources.”
Under such a tax, non-EU buyers — including British, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian nationals — would face a 100 percent levy on real estate purchases in the Czech Republic unless they actually reside in the country.
Announcing his own flagship policy, Sánchez explained that non-EU buyers had purchased 27,000 homes in Spain back in 2023 “not to live in them but primarily for speculation,” namely as investment opportunities and income streams.
“We cannot allow this at a time when we have a housing shortage,” the left-wing Spanish prime minister added.
While Babiš has traditionally campaigned on tax cuts, his stance suggests a more targeted approach to address Czechia’s rising housing crisis — one that restricts foreign investment in property while allegedly keeping overall tax levels in check for working Czechs. He has long criticized Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s current government for what he describes as inefficient tax collection and unnecessary tax hikes.
“Our goal in ANO is to collect taxes correctly and efficiently while keeping them low. This government, however, increases taxes and collects them inefficiently,” Babiš said.
Asked whether he would also support tax relief for small businesses — such as reintroducing reduced VAT rates for draft beer — Babiš confirmed that his party would help entrepreneurs and bar owners, though he declined to share further details ahead of his party’s election manifesto launch.
Despite an increasing housing shortage in Czech cities, particularly in Prague where property prices are entirely disproportionate to the average wage, real estate taxes have remained particularly low, making the Czech Republic an attractive destination for speculative property investment.
