Carmena To Construct 4,000 Social Homes By End Of Term

19 April 2016 – 20 Minutos

After the Europa Press Breakfast on Monday, the mayoress of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, announced that the Town Hall has set itself the objective of ending its term with 4,000 social homes, as part of its efforts to alleviate “the humanitarian disaster resulting from mortgages foreclosures”. She argues that in a society with the level of wealth and development such as ours, it should be possible to achieve the objective of “ensuring a home for everyone that needs one”.

Carmena revealed the preliminary details of her social housing construction plan, which will be formally announced “in September or earlier” because she considers that it is “quite embarrassing” to talk to the mayors of Paris and New York and tell them how “little social housing the Town Hall of Madrid has to offer”. Especially given that the Municipal Home and Land Company (EMVS) has 6,000 applicants at the moment.

One of the options proposed by Carmena involves “increasing the buildability” of renovation projects. To that she adds the possibility of the banks allowing some of their foreclosed homes to be rented out, as well as the option of building on land that the Town Hall has available. The Town Hall is also exploring ways of providing more security to owners who grant their properties for social use.

The option of offering a “zero rent” arrangement is also being considered for cases of “absolute emergency” and Carmena announced the new configuration of the Mortgage Mediation Office, which will provide support and advice to affected citizens from 1 September. (…).

Original story: 20 Minutos

Translation: Carmel Drake