The Balearic Islands will allow large apartments to be divided up to a minimum of 60 square meters within a package of urgent measures with which it is intended to quickly obtain homes at an appraised price. The Balearic Islands have a serious problem of access to housing, with skyrocketing prices that are only exceeded in the community of Madrid. The square meter exceeds 3,000 euros and the average rent does not fall below 1,000 euros per month, in the most economical cases.
The Government of Marga Prohens will approve a housing emergency decree that will allow the division of large apartments or single-family homes as long as the resulting apartments are destined for VPO or have an assessed price. The maximum sales price will be between 102,000 and 240,000 euros depending on the municipality and the rental price will be between 385 and 900 euros per month.
The president has met with representatives of the real estate sector, to whom she has advanced this measure. The decree will also allow heights to be raised to match the saw teeth that exist in many streets in towns in the archipelago, especially in Palma. It cannot be done in all areas, but only in those where there are unevennesses and the rise will be a maximum of 50% once the average height of the block is calculated.
The conversion of commercial premises into homes and the transformation of hotels into apartment buildings is also facilitated. The decree will allow out-of-plan buildings on urban land to be converted into housing. All these new apartments must adjust to the same maximum prices authorized in the case of the division of the homes. In the case of raising heights in inhabited buildings, authorization from the community of owners will be required.
All of these proposals will be in force within a maximum period of two years, but they will only be implemented if they are accepted by the city councils. The Prohens Government has given autonomy to the municipalities to approve this package with which it is intended to urgently obtain housing at a reasonable price. In addition, Prohens has announced that public land will be transferred to developers so that they can build rental homes at an appraised price. The homes will be part of the community’s public park.
“Access to housing is a social problem; it is a health problem due to the lack of health professionals; it is a citizen security problem, because there are no security personnel, and it is a problem for competitiveness due to the lack of professionals in all sectors,” said the president of the Government, Marga Prohens.
