The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) and the autonomous communities and cities have unanimously ratified the proposal for the territorial distribution of 1,889 million euros of European recovery funds, approved by the Council of Ministers on 23 August.
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The agreement, reached during the Sectoral Conference on Housing, Urban Planning and Land, allows for the continuity of the residential rehabilitation and social rental housing construction programmes included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR). The Secretary of State for Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, Isabel Pardo de Vera, chaired the conference, at which she was accompanied by the Secretary-General for the Urban Agenda and Housing, David Lucas.
Of the 1,889 million euros, 1,389 million euros can be transferred this year in 2022 to the autonomous communities and cities to finance the rehabilitation and regeneration of housing, neighbourhoods and residential buildings, while the remaining 500 million euros will be transferred from 2023 for the construction of social rental housing. The grants are included in Component 2 of the Recovery Plan, “Implementation of the Spanish Urban Agenda: Urban Regeneration and Rehabilitation Plan”.
The subsidies aim to reduce the carbon footprint and consumption of households, a vital measure to fight climate change and reduce our energy dependence.
Distribution
According to the agreement ratified today with the favourable vote of the representatives of all the autonomous communities, Ceuta and Melilla, the funds will be distributed in proportion to the number of households according to the latest data from the INE’s Continuous Household Survey, as follows:
Distribution by Autonomous Community of the funds for refurbishment and social rental housing
The territorial distribution of these 1,889 million euros is in addition to the 1,151 million euros of the residential rehabilitation programme transferred in 2021 by Mitma to the autonomous communities, Ceuta and Melilla, and the 500 million euros of the social housing programme transferred in 2022. All of this, according to the distribution proposed at the Sectorial Conference on Housing and Land on 21 July 2021, was subsequently approved by the Council of Ministers.
With this agreement, Mitma mobilises 3,540 million euros from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) for the autonomous communities and cities to finance actions aimed at regenerating residential environments and increasing the public housing stock, which represents 89% of the resources to be transferred within the framework of both investment programmes. Thus, in 2023 it will be possible to transfer 100% of the funds earmarked for the construction of up to 20,000 social rental housing units and this year, 85.5% of the aid is aimed at rehabilitation. The distribution of the remaining 430 million euros is planned for next year.
At this point, it is worth remembering that the residential rehabilitation programme has 450 million euros to finance tax rebates for housing rehabilitation, giving a total of 3,420 million euros.
A key moment
Throughout the Sectorial Conference held today, the importance of collaboration between the different territorial administrations to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the European funds, which help to ensure that Spain fulfils its commitments to promote building refurbishment, both within the framework of the Long-term Strategy for Energy Refurbishment in the Spanish Building Sector (ERESEE) and the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) 2021-2030, was highlighted by all those present.
Thus, together with Law 10/2022 of 14 June, these resources contribute to reinforcing the set of measures aimed at favouring actions for the refurbishment and improvement of housing and residential buildings, through different instruments that are unprecedented in terms of the amount and intensity of aid, which will improve the quality of life and comfort of housing, ensure the maximum quality of buildings and contribute to strengthening a key sector of the Spanish economy in terms of activity and employment, with enormous growth potential.
Likewise, in the area of social housing, the application of PRTR resources will enable the construction of 20,000 new social rental homes in energy-efficient buildings, which is an opportunity for local authorities to expand their social housing stock, an essential instrument for the implementation of public policies in favour of the right to decent and adequate housing enshrined in the Spanish Constitution.