News

The Official State Gazette (BOE) has published the order acknowledging the criteria for determining assets that may be allocated to affordable housing policies and the necessary actions to effectively transfer ownership of real estate assets held by the Asset Management Company from Banking Restructuring (Sareb) to the Public Business Entity of Land, Sepes.

Accordingly, the Ministries of Housing and Urban Agenda (MIVAU), Finance, and Economy, Trade and Business are entrusted with carrying out the necessary actions to formalize the gratuitous transfer of ownership of the identified Sareb properties to Sepes.

This order approves the asset perimeter announced by the Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, in early July, which will progressively incorporate 40,000 homes and nearly 2,400 plots of land, capable of accommodating approximately 55,000 homes.

These properties, which have been preliminarily identified as suitable or potentially suitable, will be transferred from Sareb to the General State Administration to be integrated into Sepes's assets, with the objective of subsequently feeding into the new public housing company that the Government is promoting.

These homes will become a permanent part of the public stock of affordable housing and will be rented at affordable prices, with the aim of ensuring that rental costs do not exceed 30% of household income, as indicated by the Minister of Housing in early July.

New Public Housing: From Geographic to Economic Criteria

As stated in the BOE, the housing units must meet certain geographic criteria. They must be located in municipalities within metropolitan areas and islands, or in municipalities with a population of over 5,000 inhabitants, or over 1,000 if they have experienced more than 5% population growth in the past ten years.

A minimum concentration criterion of 10 dwellings is also introduced for municipalities outside metropolitan areas and islands, to ensure efficiency in management.

Regarding economic criteria, eligible properties include those with up to 85 square meters of usable space regardless of appraisal value, and those up to 150 square meters whose appraised value does not exceed by more than 40% the result of multiplying the property’s area by the average price per square meter for free-market housing, as indicated in the Housing Appraisal Statistics published by the Ministry of Housing for the relevant province or municipality.

Furthermore, the buildings and homes must be free of structural pathologies, comply with urban planning laws, and meet adequate habitability standards.

These criteria will not apply to homes with an active social rental contract. In such cases, all these homes will be included due to the unavoidable institutional and social responsibility of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda.

As for land plots, they must be located in municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants. Eligible plots must support viable development and allow for rental housing of a standard 70 m² unit under the affordability conditions set by the Housing Rights Law.

Additionally, plots must exceed 150 m² in area, be zoned for multi-family or collective residential use, and be able to accommodate developments of 30 or more homes.

The plots must be registered in the Property Registry and the General Directorate of the Land Registry, and be fully owned by Sareb, unless they can be made so through urban planning processes or Sareb holds more than an 80% ownership share.

This perimeter may be expanded for justified reasons through an agreement of the Government's Delegate Commission for Economic Affairs.

The process and pace of incorporating these properties will be arranged to ensure their adequate and optimal integration into Sepes’s assets, taking into account the operational capacity and legal status of both entities.

The BOE has also published an order to promote urban development and the construction of affordable or social rental housing on land owned by the Ministry of Defense, and to authorize the extension of the purpose of the €622,265,566.67 capital contribution transferred to Sepes. This includes support for actions under the Affordable Rental Housing Plan, as well as necessary funding for the expansion of Sepes and the implementation of the Public Housing and Land Entity.