The Balearic Government is to speed up procedures for the building of a new stock of VPO homes; VPO, standing for Vivienda de Protección Oficial, is a form of subsidised public housing.
These homes will be managed by the IBAVI housing agency. Express procedures are to be established to get these homes onto the market as soon as possible. A way of shortcutting building permissions' bureaucracy is to declare construction investments in the regional community interest. Up to two years can be saved, or three years in some municipalities.
The government argues that this measure will strengthen and expand social housing, which will be for people who have been resident in the Balearics for at least five years. A declaration of regional interest in effect replaces the process of obtaining a municipal permit. There are already some twenty developments which are at the tender phase.
IBAVI, according to the government, currently has developments for a total of 900 or so homes that are at the planning stage or are in process. The agency is in contact with various municipalities regarding further developments for town halls to incorporate into their planning.
The housing ministry says the building of public housing is "one of the pillars" of the emergency plan launched by the government soon after the election in 2023. It maintains that nearly 5,000 affordable homes are being planned. However, certain measures have as yet produced limited results. One is the 'Safe Rental' programme with guarantees for owners; only some 50 vacant homes have been made available.
VPO homes are a good deal less expensive than ones that come under 'limited-price' arrangements. Since taking office, the Partido Popular government has tended to focus on private-public schemes whereby developers will benefit for periods of up to 75 years. The emphasis is now beginning to shift.
These homes remain government property in perpetuity, thanks to a legislative change introduced by the last government. Previously, VPOs could be sold on the open market (and at open market values) after a period of 30 years. This was the reason why so many disappeared from the available public housing stock.