The local government of Alcorcón has announced an investment of 10 million euros to unblock the 'Plan Permuta', a public housing program initiated more than fifteen years ago. The initiative was paralyzed after the disappearance of the municipal company EMGIASA in 2012.
The municipal proposal consists of acquiring the participants' original homes to incorporate them into the municipal rental housing stock. The majority of those affected have accepted this measure, which aims to provide a definitive solution to an outstanding urban and social issue.
To date, more than thirty out of the 46 homes included in the program will join the acquisition process. An independent entity will appraise the properties according to market price, and each owner will freely decide whether to accept the sale to the City Council. The procedure is voluntary, and the appraisal does not obligate the sale.
The 'Plan Permuta' was created over fifteen years ago to facilitate seniors leaving old homes, often with accessibility issues, to move into adapted apartments in the Ensanche Sur. In exchange, they ceded their original homes for a rental program managed by EMGIASA.
Miguel Ángel González, first deputy mayor and councilor for Urban Agenda, Planning, Development, and City Maintenance, explained that once the adhesion and appraisal process concludes, the City Council will purchase the homes whose owners decide to sell. He assured that seniors participating in the 'Plan Permuta' can continue living in the adapted apartments in Ensanche Sur regardless of whether they accept the sale of their former property.
The municipal government's intention is to renovate the acquired homes to later integrate them into the rental housing pool, thereby increasing the city's public housing stock and putting an end to a problem inherited from the disappearance of EMGIASA.
