The real estate developer is going to build 454 subsidised housing units for rent in Valdebebas (Madrid) by transforming offices into homes. It will be the first company in the sector to resort to this change of use in the Spanish capital, in force since last June. The total investment amounts to 70 million euros.
Specifically, Vía Ágora has acquired two plots of land for tertiary use, located on Avenida José Antonio Corrales, for which it has the right of superficies for a period of 78 years. These plots have a surface area of 9,164 sqm and a buildable area of 31,286 sqm. The transaction has been advised by Colliers.
‘We are facing a serious problem of access to housing. With the approval of this law by the Community of Madrid and the commitment of the City Council, we are facilitating new formulas that help to alleviate the existing imbalance between supply and demand, especially in those areas where price pressure is greatest, as is the case in our capital city. With this operation, Vía Ágora ratifies its commitment to put a greater number of affordable homes on the market, facilitating their accessibility’, emphasised Patricia Hernández, CEO of Vía Ágora. The homes will have 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms.
Last June, the Assembly of Madrid approved the draft law on urban development measures for the promotion of subsidised housing, which allows, among other things, the transformation of offices into thousands of affordable rental flats. The initiative of Isabel Díaz Ayuso's government aims to ‘increase the regional housing stock in order to facilitate access to it for the people of Madrid’. The Madrid government estimates that this law could free up 1.8 million square metres of premises to convert them into 20,000 new flats in various municipalities in the region.
Thus, the text specifically establishes an extraordinary and temporary measure that authorises the change of use of land classified as tertiary (for offices) to residential land, for the implementation of housing subject to some form of public protection (VPP) on a rental basis. This will be possible without the need for a planning modification.
Instead, it can be done by means of a licence. To this end, local councils will have up to four months to decide on its application. If it goes ahead, a period of two years will be allowed to apply for a licence and a maximum of three years to carry out the work. It can be applied to vacant plots of land or existing buildings, as long as the entire infrastructure is covered. In addition, it includes the exemption of special plans for the implementation of VPPs in supra-municipal plots classified as facilities. This will reduce the construction period to between 8 and 12 months.