The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has proposed a “country alliance for housing” and the private sector has picked up the gauntlet. In a pioneering initiative to meet with representatives of real estate, banking and unions – meetings that will be repeated every six months – the Executive has committed to implementing measures to expedite the granting of urban planning licenses, which was one of the recurring requests of promoters and builders, and, in turn, modify the regulations to provide financing to those who start real estate projects.
The Executive is going to launch today, through the Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Business, a public consultation so that interested parties, both from the real estate and financial sectors, can contribute their vision to measures that the central Government wants to implement to speed up the procedures for Construction and promotion of residences. These measures are related to urban planning licenses and the appraisal of sustainable homes that are currently on the market.
Specifically, the objective is the modification of the so-called ECO 805 standard. This is a licensing regulation that dates back to 2003 and that currently hinders or slows down the agility in the construction and promotion of real estate projects. The objective is to “clarify” these regulations, explained the minister of the sector, Isabel Rodríguez, to speed up the licensing and include new developments that the sector has been incorporating, such as industrialization in the construction of homes or sustainability factors.
To this initiative we must add the modification of the Land Law, a project that is also expressly undergoing parliamentary processing (this month the amendment process is expected to be closed in Congress) that seeks to prevent an urban project from being paralyzed by a minor error in it. This was also a request that could be considered historic from the construction and developer sector.
One of the problems facing the private sector is financing for housing projects that are developed through industrialized construction. That is, the kitchens or bathrooms of the homes are no longer built in the property, but rather they start from a factory and arrive at their destination to only be installed. This is one of the new trends in the sector. The Government has committed to modifying the regulations to facilitate the financing of these initiatives, which currently have some reluctance on the part of banking entities. It was also another request from the real estate sector.
The objective, Minister Rodríguez stated, is that “everyone who has something to contribute, does so.” “Here is the Government,” she added, before remembering that her department has expedited the execution of European funds for housing. At this time, she highlighted, 5.5 billion have been distributed among the different modalities. The head of Housing has advanced that she also intends to incorporate artificial intelligence into administrative procedures related to real estate.
Regarding the application of the Housing law and the declaration of stressed areas, Rodríguez has called for more autonomies to join Catalonia. The minister has spoken of an “emergency” but has highlighted that in order to apply the measures related to state regulations “a request is needed” from the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Among these measures, she highlighted, is also the 90% bonus on personal income tax for small owners who decide to reduce their rental income. There are Madrid city councils, such as Alcorcón or Fuenlabrada, that are interested in applying the Housing Law, but without the support of the regional Executive they cannot do so.
The meeting also addressed the problem of seasonal rentals, due to which owners who do not want to benefit from price controls, and tourist rentals, said the minister, are “escaping”. Regarding temporary leases, the working group formed in December will offer its conclusions next week. Tourism is a regional and municipal competition.
The meeting with Sánchez, Rodríguez and the Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, was attended by one of the main actors in the real estate sector, Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado, president of Vía Agora and the Association of Developers and Builders of Spain (Apce ). On behalf of the National Construction Confederation (CNC), its president, Pedro Fernández Alén, and also a representative of Seopan, Julián Nuñez, its president, attended. Representatives of the Spanish Association of Public Housing and Land Managers (AVS), the Confederation of Housing Cooperatives of Spain (CONCOVI), the Association of Housing Managers (AGV) and the National Association were also present. of Rehabilitation and Reform Companies (ANERR).
Also attending were María Abascal, the general director of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), and José María Méndez, general director of the Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (CECA), as well as sectoral representatives of UGT and CCOO, not their first swords.
On the part of the professional associations, those mentioned have been the Higher Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE) and the General Council of Official Colleges of Surveyors and Technical Architects of Spain / General Council of Technical Architecture of Spain (CGATE). Finally, there are members of Hogar Sí, ProVivienda, the Third Sector Platform and the Spanish Youth Council.
In the catalog of absences, representatives of large funds stand out, the so-called “large holders” of housing, such as Blackstone, or the main SOCIMI in the country, Merlin. Sareb, a key player in housing policy, has not been invited to the meeting with the President of the Government either. And the tenant unions were not contacted either.
