He Government An ambitious challenge has been set to alleviate the housing crisis in Catalonia: build 50,000 public housing units in the next six years. This promise, formalized by President Salvador Illa in his first general policy debate in the Parliamentis accompanied by a battery of administrative and financial measures – the roadmap plans to mobilize an amount close to 6,000 million euros – that aims to increase the public residential park in the community, which today represents 2% of the total number of homes compared to 15% of the European average.
The goal of the socialist executive is not only ambitious, but it far exceeds the promotion led by the previous tenants of the Generalitat. According to the yearbook of Incasòlthe autonomous entity in charge of the creation of officially protected housing (VPO) as well as the development of land for economic activities, the apartments built between 1982 and 2020 amounted to 33,618 units. That is to say, In 40 years of Incasòl activity, the figure of 50,000 homes could not be equaled to which the PSC has committed.
The Incasòl document details the number of homes started and completed each year. These data raise doubts about the viability of the operation announced by the Government. The year with the most units delivered dates back to 1985 (2,300 homes). In fact, the years immediately following the constitution of Incasòl recorded intense real estate development, which declined abruptly in the 1990s until rising in the period 1994-1997.
These fluctuations are maintained throughout the analyzed period. Thus, another peak is observed in the three-year period 2008-2010, coinciding with the golden age of brick. Although it should be noted that in these three years it was not possible to deliver more than 2,000 units per year. These are also the years in which Incasòl allocated the most money to the construction of VPOs, specifically a total of 589 million euros.
Institutional guarantees
The report of the autonomous body demonstrates, according to the sector sources consulted, both the difficulties and the weakness of the promotional activity of the Generalitat to date. That does not mean that the challenge of 50,000 new homes is unattainable.
“Unlike what happened in the past, housing is now a pressing problem. Furthermore, there have been 15 years of hiatus due to the real estate crisis during which practically nothing has been built,” he reflects. Jose Garcia Montalvoprofessor of Economics at the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF).
This new situation can contribute, according to the expert, to generating greater collaboration between public and private actors. To cement this agreement, Montalvo highlights the guarantees provided in advance by the administrations.
“The problem of deadlines matters because financing a three-year project is not the same as ten-year financing. But there is another factor almost as important as uncertainty. Will this project come out in two, three, 30 years like Campamento or Madrid Nuevo Norte? This uncertainty kills any project,” he says.
It is not the only proposal to guarantee the success of the 50,000 plan. The professor at EADA Business School, Jaime Ferrerputs the focus on the industrialized construction as an instrument to accelerate public promotion. “The execution time using this type of technology is divided by two. In addition, it has other beneficial effects. On the one hand, it contributes to reindustrializing Catalonia and the whole of Spain and contributes to alleviating labor shortages. It also has savings in the water consumption,” he explains.
Unlike traditional construction, “80% of the value of industrialized housing is generated in a factory.” “This allows economies of scale, you work as if you were in a car plant, being able to automate the processes to make the same square meters with much less labor,” emphasizes Ferrer, who also coordinated the Circular Economy Spain project completed last year. .
“Serial” promotions
The EADA professor also addresses the issue of administrative procedures, one of the constant complaints from private companies. To lighten the paperwork, Ferrer proposes advancing the “serial” promotionsespecially for rent, which other autonomies are already authorizing.
“A macro-tender could be carried out in contiguous areas or at least in the same municipal area and a macro-license be granted. But perhaps not a single promoter is involved, but three promoters with three builders. That would eliminate a lot of paperwork,” explains the professor.
Regarding the reservation of public land, another initiative announced by the Government which will concentrate all the equipment lots available in the community for residential use, Montalvo is in favor and states that it will make the design of public policies more effective. The professor points out that on many occasions it is the local entities that make new construction difficult, so “make local powers rise to a higher administrative level.”
There are many proposals that can be implemented so that the goal of 50,000 homes in Illa does not remain a dead letter. The regional government recognizes that its credibility is at stake in this endeavor. There is time until 2030.
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