The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has made a commitment to the real estate sector to support public investment in housing and has assured that he is working to ensure that Spain continues to have "new generation" funds beyond 2026 to continue providing the country with public housing and to promote rehabilitation. This was announced by the Minister of Housing and Urbanism, Isabel Rodriguez, at a press conference after a meeting held Thursday with the employers of the construction sector, the banking sector, and so Rodriguez also assured that the President of the Government is already working so that they can count on them beyond 2026.
The developer funding standard has changed with the adoption of fast-track licensing.
The Minister also indicated that Order ECO/805/2003, of March 27, on the rules for the valuation of real estate and certain rights for certain financial purposes, will be modified in order to facilitate access to financing for the Autonomous Regions, a change that will complement the modification of the Land Law, which is currently in the parliamentary process.
On April 11, the public consultation on the change will begin, which can be accessed through the website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise. "The objective is to update this ordinance because it is based on a study that we have done on the specific needs for change, which again has to do with the optimization of the urban management".
In addition, he added, they are going to "introduce elements such as new construction technologies, especially with regard to the industrialization of construction, or sustainability factors also in the field of construction."
This will mean that the competent administrations will be able to simplify their urban planning processes for granting licenses through reduced, basic or simple licenses, which some city councils have already implemented, but have not yet facilitated access to financing.
Rodriguez asks Ciudadanos for more affordable rental housing without specifying new measures
Rodriguez also suggested that private landlords, who make up 95% of the rental market, rent more housing and at affordable prices, i.e., that rent payments should not account for more than 30% of total income. housing.
"We need them," the Minister declared. - "The Government is going to work to provide certainty, legal security and guarantees to owners so that they can offer more housing at affordable rents", although he did not point out any new additional measures. encourage more housing to come onto the market, without forgetting the tax breaks already available, especially for housing in areas with difficulties.
The rental housing market is at a point where the supply of rentals is not able to absorb the growing demand. In addition, he assured that public-private cooperation will be deepened and the presence of the third sector and the social economy will be considered and strengthened in decisions on the supply of public housing. We also want to increase flexibility to make more land available for affordable rental.
Next meeting on temporary assignments
The meeting was attended by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, the Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, Isabel Rodríguez, and the Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Bodi, as well as the Director of the Office of Economic Affairs and G20, Manuel de la Rocha; the Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Actions, David Lucas; the Secretary of State for Economy and Business Support, Israel Arroyo; and the Secretary General for Housing and Urban Program, Iñaki Carnicero.
Also present were representatives of the sector's agents: Asociación de Promotores y Constructores de España (APCE), Confederación Nacional de la Construcción (CNC), Asociación Española de Vivienda Pública y Suelo (AVS), Confederación de Cooperativas de Viviendas de España. (CONCOVI), Asociación de Gestores de Vivienda (AGV), Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Rehabilitación y Reforma (ANERR), SEOPAN, Consejo Superior de Colegios de Arquitectos de España (CSCAE), Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de Aparejadores y Arquitectos Técnicos de España. (CGATE), Asociación de Banca (AEB), CECA, Consejo de la Juventud de España, Plataforma del Tercer Sector, Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), Hogar Sí, ProVivienda.
The Minister of Housing pointed out that it has been decided to increase the frequency of meetings between the sector and the Government, so that meetings will be held every two years, in addition to forums at parliamentary level or advisory councils of a more technical and expert nature. At the same time, she pointed out President Sánchez's intention to attend at least one of these annual meetings.
At a subsequent press conference, the Minister of Housing announced that a meeting will be held on April 18 to deal with the issue of temporary leases. The working group was formed last December, the proposals made are being analyzed by the Ministry of Housing, so they will be presented next week, although she admitted that the issue "is not yet deepened".
He also announced that he is expected to convene a conference of regional presidents in which a country-by-country agreement could be reached to lower the price of housing in Spain and promote social rentals after the current electoral period between the Basque, Catalan and European elections.
Reaction of industry representatives to the meeting with the government
The shortage of land, the significant increase in construction costs and the shortage of labor, which generates part of the inflation in construction costs, are the main problems that the sector has brought to the attention of the Executive.
The Association of Developers and Builders of Spain, APCEspaña , was one of the participants in this meeting. Its president, Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado, pointed out that "we have had the opportunity to bring to the Government's attention the main bottlenecks in the development of the housing market in Spain, especially affordable housing, proposing various measures such as the updating of the ECO Regulation, which would allow banks to finance a more modern, efficient and digital licensing system".
"We understand that this is a measure that will speed up the granting of construction licenses in an unprecedented way," stressed the president of the builders.
On the other hand, the president of the employers' association asked the government to "modernize the regulation so that banking entities can finance industrialization processes through a blockchain system that guarantees the traceability of the products, since with the current regulations it is not possible." Also, apply a reduced VAT to affordable housing, both in purchase and rental, and provide vocational training adapted to the business world so that young people and women can work in the sector."
A request in which he was accompanied by the president of the Association of Housing Managers (AGV), Juan José Perucho. Likewise, the AGC proposed to provide guarantees in the financing of cooperatives for the acquisition of land for subsidized housing for an amount equivalent to between 15% and 20% of the value of the housing.
From the Confederation of Spanish Housing Cooperatives (CONCOVI), Juan Casares proposed the creation of a Housing Observatory with the participation of CONCOVI, AVS and APCEspaña in direct and permanent collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Programs and other agents involved in housing. production, to draw up a roadmap and executive proposals that address the problems that directly affect housing. production, to draw up a roadmap and executive proposals that address the problems that directly affect housing construction.
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