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Housing construction in the province of Malaga is maintaining the rate of growth it has been seeing since the end of last year. The Malaga architects' association has released this Wednesday all the data on the building projects it has approved in the second quarter of this year (April to June), which show a total of 2,233 homes, that is 7.6% more than in the first quarter of the year. If the projects approved in the first half of 2024 are added together, this makes a total of 4,307 new homes, which is 15% more than those recorded as approved in the first half of 2023.
After five years of near invisibility on the project approval statistics, subsidised housing (the VPO - Vivienda de Protección Oficial - social housing) is making a comeback in Malaga city. Currently there is a total of four projects adding up to 530 subsidised housing units, the construction of which has a budget of 55.8 million euros. However, these are not new developments, as this figure corresponds to the VPOs that the Swedish developer Lagoom Living has begun to build on plots of land handed over by the city council on the stretch of land to the west of the Teatinos campus. These homes were announced years ago by city hall but were never developed. Since then the municipal housing institute has left the plots in the hands of these aforementioned, private developers. Next to this build the council is also building another 476 flats for rent with protected status.
So, nothing new on the horizon for those seeking a VPO in Malaga apart from these 1,006 homes that Malaga city council and Lagoom Living are building on the land that was developed in readiness for housing over a decade ago to the south of Los Asperones. There are no other new projects to be started in the short term. Those that are planned depend on the completion of urbanisation work (e.g. mains water, street lighting) for any new housing developments, such as in Distrito Zeta or Cortijo Merino (Amoniáco), both of which are still in progress.
According to the data on housing projects approved in the second quarter of this year, a total of 408 free (not VPO) rental homes have been approved for Malaga city, a figure that, on the Costa del Sol, is only matched by Estepona town with 376 new homes approved. Estepona is the leading seaside town in terms of new homes approved, along with Mijas, where projects have also been registered from April to June, totalling 317 homes.
Smaller numbers of new residential units have been recorded in Fuengirola (122 homes approved in the second quarter of the year), Benalmádena (98), Torremolinos (30) and Marbella (20). In Guadalhorce, 22 new homes have been registered in Alhaurín de la Torre, and 20 in Alhaurín el Grande.
On the other hand, the phenomenon of new housing approvals in localities in the eastern part of La Axarquía is striking, possibly motivated by second home projects for foreign buyers. Thus, from April to June Periana has registered developments totalling 57 new homes, Cómpeta 46, Algarrobo 42 and Frigiliana 32.
Nevertheless, the architects' association continues to emphasise the lack of new VPO projects in both the city and the wider province. "There is still a lot of work to be done to balance the market and ensure that more people have access to affordable housing. This underlines the need to continue to encourage and facilitate the construction of VPOs in a province such as Malaga, which is experiencing significant demographic and tourism growth, that in turn is putting upward pressure on property prices," said Susana Gómez de Lara, who heads up the association.
Gómez de Lara also stressed that, according to the data available to her association, "housing refurbishment is gaining importance as the year progresses..... It is a key strategy for improving the housing stock we already have, giving it a second chance. " She once again advocated the possibility of converting unused buildings from the industrial fabric into housing, e.g. old mills or office blocks. "This approach would not only be more affordable than building from scratch, but would also have no impact on land consumption, as we would be using existing land."
On the other hand, this architect regretted that, in the last three months, no projects for the conversion of commercial premises into homes have been received at the college, despite the fact that the city planners in Urbanismo are registering a considerable proliferation of this type of activity. In the opinion of the architects this shows that these adaptations "are not being carried out by architects, the only competent technicians according to Law 38/1999 on Building Regulations (LOE)."
Finally, the association highlighted the point that the Junta de Andalucía has combined Next Generation funds with the Eco Housing Plan, so this move not only covers the refurbishment of existing homes but also the improvement of energy efficiency. To deal with this form of aid, the Architects' Association has opened a support office for refurbishment whose purpose is to "inform, promote and disseminate the aid available for residential energy refurbishment, as well as to answer questions and queries (www.oficina-rehabilitacion.coamalaga.es )."
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