The president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, presented a new decree of Public protection housing (VPP) with which it aims to “provide real and feasible solutions” to encourage construction and facilitate access to the real estate market for young people and families.
The head of the Consell participated this Thursday in the presentation of the new decree at an event also attended by the first vice-president and councilor for Social Services, Equality and Housing, Susana Camarero. The president indicated that the objective is to “update the regulations according to the current scenario to ensure that the VPP is a possible option for all Valencians, residents of Castellón and residents of Alicante who request a new home” and that, at the same time, “correct the situation of the real estate market in the Valencian Community after years of inaction in this case.
Thus, the highest representative of the Valencian Executive indicated that this regulation “will include a category of youth housing intended for under-35s, adjusting the rent to facilitate young people’s access to these properties.” “In addition – he continued – the decree will establish the obligation that all VPP promotions, both public and private, contain a Minimum reservation of 40% for under 35s“.
Similarly, single-parent families, families with a disabled or dependent person, or victims of gender-based violence can benefit from this rule. The regulations also will increase the maximum income level to access sheltered housing for families with dependent elderly people or children between 18 and 35 years old.
For all this, Mazón valued the collaboration of public and private institutions and representatives of civil society in the development of this regulatory framework “which contributes to promoting the construction of affordable and accessible housing that reverses the lack of housing supply of recent years and an inefficient system.” policy. In this regard, he regretted that the imbalance between supply and demand has meant that between 2015 and 2023 “the rental price increased by 90% and the purchase price by 49%“.
In this sense, the leader of Alicante indicated that with this decree he also intends to encourage developers to build more protected housing “by opting for greater regulatory simplification and guaranteeing legal security.”
Different levels of protection
Thus, the regulation introduces measures that facilitate and shorten the time taken to obtain qualifications. On the other hand, the new regulation will maintain the permanent nature of all public housing while establishing different levels of protection. Thus, the duration of protection may vary between 30 years for developments on land qualified as VPP, 20 years for developments developed on land previously intended for the construction of vacant housing and 15 years for housing classified as youth housing.
Furthermore, the new decree will deploy a new maximum price setting systemThis is a pioneering dynamic module in Spain that, based on construction costs, will be adjusted according to the evolution of prices in the free housing market, demographic pressure and the evolution of average incomes in each of the municipalities of the Valencian Community.
The president explained that “this dynamic module, updated every year, will have a limited maximum level and will make housing cheaper by setting a lower price in municipalities where the circumstances exist.” Likewise, he guaranteed that “the sale price of public protection housing in the Valencian Community is still located below market prices for free accommodation.
First stone of the project
During his speech, Mazón stressed that “this new VPP regulation is the first stone of a much broader legislative project, and of a set of actions that guarantee an effective response from the Consell to the needs of access to housing in the Valencian Community. Thus, this new decree is added to other initiatives such as the Live Package which provides for the construction of 10,000 new affordable homes, to which more than 200 municipalities in the Valencian Community have already subscribed.
Likewise, he valued the line of mentions of the Valencian Institute of Finance (IVF) for under-45s, with a budget of 20 million euros. An initiative that allows buyers to obtain a loan of up to 95% of the price of the home.
He also recalled the tax measures aimed at facilitating access to housing with a 25% reduction in property transfer taxes (PTI). Thus, for those under 35, the most vulnerable groups and buyers of general social housing, the ITP has been reduced to 6%. In both cases, with a property value of up to 180,000 euros.
Similarly, he mentioned the expansion of the 2023-2024 Youth Rental Bonus, which has enabled 5,640 people under 35 to benefit from it, i.e. 44% more than the last call. Thus, 31.9 million euros have been allocated to this aid, an increase of 40%.
