Catalonia continues to seek new ways to tackle the severe housing crisis affecting the community, which opinion barometers consistently rank as citizens’ primary concern. While awaiting the approval of the law to limit speculative purchases, the government of Salvador Illa has reached an agreement with its parliamentary partners, Comuns, to launch a package of immediate measures to accelerate the construction of social housing (VPO). Among other measures, the Generalitat will allow protected housing to be built on land reserved for offices, hotels, or community facilities, convert commercial premises, or increase the buildability of developable land by 20%, all without the need to modify urban plans.
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The measure, applicable until 2030 in municipalities with the highest demand, aims to achieve the construction of between 15,000 and 20,000 homes in four years, according to negotiation sources. “The urban planning measures are temporary and exceptional to intensify the construction of protected housing. We are going to activate all initiatives that move in this direction,” said Sílvia Paneque, Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, this Friday. The proposal, which requires the votes of ERC, will be brought to the Parliament on Monday and will be processed with extraordinary urgency to try to have it in force by the end of the year.
The Catalan Executive already has several measures underway to increase the public housing stock to 50,000 homes by 2030. These include the mobilization of land held by city councils or emancipation loans from the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF), which cover the down payment for a flat for citizens up to 40 years old with a 0% interest rate in exchange for that flat becoming protected housing. The Generalitat is now seeking the involvement of the private sector in the construction of VPO. “Catalonia is experiencing a savage housing crisis. We need to implement all possible measures and for all actors to get involved,” said the leader of Comuns, Jéssica Albiach, who appeared alongside Paneque at an event in Mollet del Vallès.
The package of measures, in part, aims to make VPO construction attractive to entrepreneurs. One of the measures in which PSC and Comuns have the most hope is the one that involves increasing the buildability of residential floor area by up to 20% in future projects outside already built urban centers — technically, on unconsolidated urban or developable land — provided that all these flats are dedicated to VPO. According to consulted sources, this increased building potential can allow developers’ numbers to work out better at a time when they are adjusting prices to the limit due to rising costs, so as not to distance themselves from a demand that is making ever greater efforts to access home ownership.
The Government will also allow protected housing to be built on tertiary land, that is, on land designated for hotels, offices, or multi-story car parks. The two main conditions are that the use of VPO occupies at least 50% of the project and that the surface area of the flats is at least 50 square meters. If these properties are isolated, buildability can even be increased by 20%. This measure can be applied, for example, to old disused or obsolete hotels whose conversion would be very costly and which now have the opportunity to build homes on that land if they opt for VPO. Paneque did not want to specify which municipalities could convert hotel facilities. “It’s not appropriate to name names, but there are cities with hotel facilities that are not fully utilized but are looking to have VPO for their citizens,” she indicated.
Another option seen as having great potential is the conversion of ground-floor commercial premises into VPO, provided they have at least 50 square meters and meet minimum habitability conditions. In this case, city councils will be required to adopt an agreement in the municipal plenary session to decide in which areas they allow shops to give way to housing to protect commercial axes and avoid losing traditional commerce.
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The agreement foresees more scenarios for building more. For example, more floors can be added to buildings that have exhausted their buildability but have the capacity to grow compared to neighboring properties (i.e., vertical extensions); subdivisions of flats and conversions of offices and professional practices — for example, a dentist’s office or a lawyer’s office — can be carried out, or construction can take place on plots that do not meet the minimum conditions for building due to facade or depth but where flats of at least 50 square meters that are perfectly habitable can be erected.
In all these cases, the bill agreed upon by PSC and Comuns allows immediate construction, provided it is VPO, without waiting for a change of use to be permitted. In return, the law safeguards the permanent residential use of all newly built flats, which can only be used as primary residences, for a family member, as a second home, or for rent within the limits set by the Catalan Executive. In no case will more licenses be permitted for building tourist apartments or seasonal rentals.
Application in high-demand areas
In principle, the measure will be applied in the 271 municipalities with a strained market, where 90% of the population resides. Also, in the 161 localities that Catalan regulations establish as areas of “strong and accredited” demand, which in many cases overlap with the previous municipalities. The reason for including both references is the possibility that the Land Law presented by the PP and supported by Vox and Junts, which contemplates repealing strained areas to abruptly end measures such as rent caps, may prosper at some point. The plan will also undergo a review every two years to check if it is yielding results or if any of the contemplated measures need to be adjusted.
The measure, which will be valid for four years, extendable for another four, can be implemented when it comes into force without having to go through the City Councils. That is, if the Consistories do not say anything, the developer will have pre-granted the increase in buildability or the change of use. However, the two groups understand that the measures imply, to some extent, a densification of the municipalities and changes of use that the city councils may not desire, for example, to preserve local commerce. The consistories may reject these measures through a plenary agreement in which they certify that they already have enough regular and affordable homes to guarantee the right to access housing.
