Alcorcón and Basque Government Share Housing and Urban Planning Strategies
Institutional meeting in Alcorcón to share experiences in urban development and affordable housing policies.
By Alberto Delgado Sanz
••3 min read
IA
Image of the urbanization works for the Retamar de la Huerta development in Alcorcón.
The city of Alcorcón hosted an institutional meeting between Mayor Candelaria Testa and the Basque Government's Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Denis Itxaso, to share strategies on housing and urban planning.
The day included a visit to the urbanization works of the Retamar de la Huerta development, a project that plans for over 3,500 homes, with 1,300 being municipal and 1,123 subject to some form of protection. Additionally, plots will be ceded for the construction of 224 homes by the Spanish Government through SEPES.
During the visit, Denis Itxaso presented the housing policies of the Basque Country, highlighting the promotion of formulas attracting private investment under public rules, such as affordable rent and 50-year housing protection. He emphasized that these measures aim to place public interest at the core of housing policy, contrasting with the situation in the Community of Madrid.
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"We are promoting formulas to attract private investment on private land, but also under public rules: affordable rent, protection for 50 years, and orientation towards co-living units registered in our demand registry that today do not find sufficient response in either the free market or the existing public housing stock. All of this responds to a very clear idea: putting public and general interest at the center of housing policy."
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"The Basque Country has decided to act with all available instruments, including rent-controlled areas, unlike other territories such as the Community of Madrid, where thousands of people are left at the mercy of market fluctuations. And there is another principle that is essential for us: protected housing must remain protected for life."
For her part, Mayor Candelaria Testa praised the Basque model for its innovative formulas and the application of the State Housing Law, which is much requested by town councils in the Madrid region to cap housing prices and ensure citizens' access to what is considered a guaranteed right. She mentioned inspiration from Alcorcón's Rental Designated Apartments (ADA) and their reformulation to fit within the State Housing Plan.
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"Alcorcón has been inspired by experiences that have already had excellent results and that we want to apply in Alcorcón, such as the Rental Designated Apartments (ADA) so that groups with greater difficulties can access housing."
Both officials, along with representatives from municipalities such as Coslada, Parla, Getafe, Fuenlabrada, and San Fernando de Henares, participated in a meeting to promote the application of the State Housing Law and declare rent-controlled residential areas.
