Malaga faces social housing shortage after allocation of 500 units this year

After several years without any funding, Malaga has seen a dozen social housing projects in the last two years, many of them part of decade-old projects.

Since 2024, the city has launched ten calls for applications for as many social housing projects, totalling 1,202 social housing flats: 746 for rent and 456 for sale. Each draw has attracted an average of nearly 6,000 applicants, reflecting the high demand for this type of housing in the current reality of soaring prices and housing access difficulties.

This dynamic of new social housing projects is unlikely to hold for long, however. According to SUR's analysis of planned social housing projects in Malaga that haven't yet been allocated, only two are currently under construction and ready for bidding.

These are a 70-unit rental social housing project in the area around Malaga University, south of Los Asperones, and three rental social housing developments Swedish company Lagoom Living is building in the same area, totalling 468 units.

The developers will launch the respective calls for applications to allocate these homes later this year. Predictably, thousands of people will once again apply. However, beyond these two projects, which total 538 flats, there are not many opportunities to obtain social housing in the city of Malaga in the short term.

According to SUR's investigation, the Vimpyca foundation intends to open applications this year for 310 social housing units for sale in the new Cortijo Merino development, on former municipal plots of land. This project, however, has not received full confirmation.

In addition, Lagoom Living has not yet specified when it will seek buyers for the 137 social rental units it plans to begin building in June in the same area, next to Intelhorce.

Very close by, in the new Distrito Zeta development, several social housing projects are still pending, but they too lack a fully defined timeline. The Pecsa group acquired municipal land to develop 147 social housing units for sale, but has yet to specify when it will offer them for sale.

Similarly, Vimpyca is also hesitant to set a date for another 300 social housing units in Distrito Zeta, where it is already building a 111-unit project raffled off last year.

Within the same Distrito Zeta development, Sareb owns land for approximately 374 social housing units. It is still unclear whether this land is part of the package it plans to transfer to the new state-owned housing company (Casa47) so that the central government can promote the construction of these flats.

Also far off are the planned social housing projects on already developed plots of land, which, for various reasons, bureaucratic procedures are still hampering. A total of 1,775 social housing units are in this situation, within easy reach. Among them, projects for 184 social housing units on several plots in the city centre and one in Parque Litoral stand out.

These projects are under the jurisdiction of the Andalusian regional government (Junta), which has yet to move forward with them. It has begun the contracting process for 50 social housing units on Calle Cerrojo in the northern Perchel district, a project the Junta planned two decades ago. There is no progress with the 16 units planned for a former tenement building in El Molinillo and with other units that the Junta is awarding.

The city council also plans to begin construction on 127 protected housing units for the elderly in various parts of the city. It has allocated 14 unused municipal plots to private developers for more than 1,000 temporary rental flats, thanks to the Junta's regulation that allows the allocation of land designated for public facilities to social housing in response to the current housing crisis.

The westernmost part of Malaga's coastline has become the city's new 'golden mile', with luxury developments reaching prices in the millions, unthinkable just a few years ago. However, the area also enjoys social housing projects.

One such project is behind the La Térmica residential development. It involves the construction of 273 social housing units, half of which will be under the most affordable scheme and the other half under the most expensive.

Developer Amenabar, with projects in Madrid and in the Costa del Sol, will build these homes after acquiring the rights now-defunct Vallehermoso previously held. Construction is still some time away, as the planned homes will replace the electrical substation currently at the site. The La Térmica homeowners' association must relocate the substation to municipal land near the Martín Carpena sports centre.

The city council also plans to launch a tender to transfer a nearby plot of land where the Unicaja foundation plans to build 220 social rental units. Additionally, on the site of the former Portillo bus depot on Avenida Velázquez, the city council has plans to build 60 social rental units. Construction is already under way, including a student residence and a 105-flat open-market building.