On March 26, the Government Council approved a new phase of the famous “10,000 Housing Plan”, which provided for the construction of 316 properties in the residential area of Toledo, after the free transfer of some land from Gicaman (Infrastructure management of Castilla La Mancha SAU), a public company attached to the Development Department of the Community Council of Castilla-La Mancha.
News which, the day before, had already been announced with great fanfare by the President Emiliano García-PageBut now, six months later, the project has been truncated since the tender process that began on May 15, whose deadline for submitting offers ended on August 16, after a one-month extension, has been abandoned. Something that confirms to ABC the Director General of Housing of the Council, Inés Sandovalwhich provides that the steps to be taken now are to review the specifications, analyse the reasons why the competition was cancelled and see what procedures can be taken within the framework of administrative regulations.
The 316 planned apartments were to be built in the land registration 1/73 444, property of Gicaman, located on Río Fresnedoso street, number 55of the Santa María de Benquerencia housing development, being “an officially protected, energy-efficient housing, under social rental regime or at an affordable price”. The model designed by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha involves public-private collaboration and, for this, as indicated in the specifications, they were going to invest 42.5 million euros in this project, of which 15.7 were contributed by the Next Generation. Fund of the European Union, while the Council renounced this public land valued at 7.6 million euros.
As owners of these homes, the announcement states, the company responsible for building the homes would be responsible for the construction and subsequent management of the operation of the rentals for a minimum period of 50 years and a maximum of 75 years. The maximum deadline for completing the work was initially June 30, 2026. and the properties were going to have an average size of 71 square metres, with one, two and three bedrooms, with the final rental price being around 700 euros per month.
“It is a very innovative model of construction and real estate development that works very well in Europe, but in Spain it is not yet implemented”, explains Inés Sandoval, who explains that it consists of the transfer of public land through a right of superficies to build houses and that after 50 years, the land and buildings return to the administration, but the private initiative recovers its investment thanks to the rental income of the tenants.
For the Director General of Housing, “this new model is the present and the future”, but she believes that In Spain and Castilla-La Mancha, the real estate sector is more specialized in a “more traditional model”which does not limit itself to building houses and then selling them, protected or free, even if it tries to adapt to the new times. “Ultimately, they and we pursue a common goal, which is to expand the supply of housing and make it affordable,” he says.
Although the competition was cancelled, Sandoval acknowledges that there were companies interested and looking for financing, mainly through investment funds. “We are in constant dialogue with the real estate sector and, before launching a call for tenders, we sit down with them and know first-hand what their needs are, because in the end they are the ones who are there one day – on a daily basis,” he concludes.
