This same week, the Council of Ministers has authorized the territorial distribution and distribution criteria of 1,889 million euros of the European recovery funds to the autonomous communities, Ceuta and Melilla to finance residential rehabilitation actions and the construction of rental housing social in energy efficient buildings. Points that were discussed at the Housing and Land Sector Conference, held on June 29 and chaired by the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez.
Of the 1,889 million euros, 1,389 million euros may be transferred this year 2022 to the autonomous communities and cities to finance the rehabilitation and regeneration of homes, neighborhoods and residential buildings, while the remaining 500 million euros will be transferred from the year 2023 to build social rental housing. Thus, the aim is to reduce the consumption of non-renewable primary energy in homes by 30% and improve comfort and habitability, promoting, for example, the change of windows, the deployment of heating systems powered by renewable energies, or the renovation of obsolete heating and cooling systems.
The territorial distribution and distribution criteria authorized by the Council of Ministers must be submitted to the Sectoral Conference on Housing and Land.
The subsidies are included in Component 2 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR): “Implementation of the Spanish Urban Agenda: Urban rehabilitation and regeneration plan”.
The fundamental pillar of the Recovery Plan is the transformation of our economic model and of society as a whole under the sign of sustainability. This objective, which is essential to combat the climate change that threatens us, has been fully justified and more necessary than ever with the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine. And it is that reducing the carbon footprint and consumption is vital, in addition to fighting climate change, to reduce our energy dependence.
The territorial distribution of these 1,889 million euros will be added to the 1,151 million euros of the residential rehabilitation program transferred in 2021 by Mitma to the CCAA, Ceuta and Melilla and the 500 million of the social housing program transferred in 2022. All this, according to the distribution agreed at the Housing and Land Sectorial Conference on July 21, 2021.
With the agreement of the Council of Ministers, Mitma mobilizes 3,540 million euros from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan so that the autonomous communities and cities finance actions aimed at the regeneration of residential environments and increase in the public housing stock, which It represents 89.1% of the resources to be transferred within the framework of both investment programs. Thus, in 2023 it will be possible to transfer 100% of the funds destined for the construction of up to 20,000 social rental homes and this year, 85.5% of the aid aimed at rehabilitation. Next year the distribution of the remaining 430 million euros is expected.
At this point, it should be remembered that the residential rehabilitation program has 450 million euros to finance tax credits for housing rehabilitation, which gives a total of 3,420 million euros.
A key moment
With this new distribution of resources, our country ensures compliance with the commitments in promoting building rehabilitation, both within the framework of the Long-term Strategy for Energy Rehabilitation in the Building Sector in Spain (ERESEE), as well as the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) 2021-2030.
Thus, together with Law 10/2022, of June 14, on urgent measures to promote building rehabilitation activity in the context of the PRTR, the opportunities to promote the rehabilitation and improvement of homes and residential buildings are reinforced, through different measures and instruments that are unprecedented in terms of the amount and intensities of aid, and that make such actions especially attractive, which will improve the quality of life and comfort of homes, ensure the highest quality of buildings and contribute to strengthen a key sector of the Spanish economy in terms of activity and employment, with enormous growth potential.
Likewise, in the field of social housing, the application of PRTR resources will enable the construction of 20,000 new social rental homes in energy efficient buildings, which constitutes an opportunity for the territorial Administrations to expand their social housing stock, an instrument essential for the application of public policies in favor of the right to decent and adequate housing enshrined in the Spanish Constitution, all of this in the context of the parliamentary processing of the first state law for the right to housing in our democracy.