Malaga city council launches five projects for 300 temporary rental flats

Malaga city council is committed to its plan to build more than 1,000 temporary rental flats for young people and over-65s on unused plots of municipal land. Last month, the city council awarded a first batch for some 300 homes to a foundation in Catalonia. On Friday, it did the same with another batch of plots for almost 300 homes.

The latest award consists of a total of five plots in the Soliva, Cañada de los Cardos, Clínico and Colonia de Santa Inés areas. The joint venture ASCH Infraestructuras y Servicios and Fundación Casas - a private non-profit organisation for the promotion of affordable rental housing - will be in charge of construction.

ASCH and Casas's bid foresees rent prices of around ten euros per square metre - a reduction of more than ten per cent, compared to the four per cent in the other prospective winner's bid.

Two of the plots are on Calle Ramón Ramos Martín, in the Soliva neighbourhood; another on Avenida Editor Ángel Caffarena; another on Calle Píndaro; and another on Calle Navarro Ledesma 32, the residents of which have lodged a legal appeal to oppose the construction of the subsidised housing units.

There is a second lot of land for 600 homes or 732 homes, depending on their surface area. The municipal housing authority has not awarded it yet due to an appeal lodged by Urbania.

The city council's objective to build 1,000 homes for young people and over-65s involves temporary rental contracts. This means that tenants can pay rents that do not exceed ten euros per square metre for more than seven years.

Young people under the age of 35 must comprise 60 per cent of the tenants in these homes. At least 55 per cent of the homes must have one bedroom. They will have an approximate usable area of 45 square metres. The rest may have two bedrooms, with a maximum usable area of 60 square metres.

Of the total usable area of each building, 15 per cent must be for communal spaces, while commercial premises may not exceed ten per cent of the total built area of each development.

The companies that undertake the construction of the flats, which will total 1,414 or 1,256 units, depending on their size, will be responsible for cleaning and maintaining the common areas of each building, as well as providing energy and water services to those areas. Furthermore, the community fees charged to tenants cannot exceed 15 per cent of the monthly rent, including storage units and parking spaces.

Once the developers sign the document for each plot of land, they will have two months to submit the preliminary project plans and apply for the building permit and 30 months to complete the construction from the date they obtain that permit from the urban planning department. The deadline for handing over the keys is three months from the completion of construction.