Carmena’s New Plan Prevents Construction of 50,000 Social Housing Units in Madrid

10 April 2018 – El Mundo

The Compensation Boards of Valdecarros, Berrocales and Los Cerros have filed a contentious-administrative appeal requesting the precautionary suspension of the Master Plan approved by the Town Hall of Madrid in January, which prevents the construction of more than 50,000 social housing units in the southeast of Madrid.

The representatives of the three developments in the southeast of the capital have received public support from Madrid’s Association of Property Developers (Asprima), which considers that “the application of the Master Plan would have very negative consequences for Madrilenians by making house prices more expensive, in both the rental and purchase markets; it would cause serious harm to the municipal coffers due to the large number of compensation claims that the Town Hall would have to pay out”, say sources at the entity.

On the other hand, Asprima warns that the aforementioned plan “would prevent the construction of more than 50,000 social housing units and the development of important public housing construction plans for rental properties, and as a result, would lead to an increase in house prices, placing further pressure on demand in towns on the outskirts, and further congesting the access roads to the capital”.

The appeal highlights that the legal nature of the Master Plan is uncertain since it is not provided for in the Community of Madrid’s governing Land Law and that it should be considered as a binding directive or as a legal planning instrument, which may be appealed and suspended in a precautionary way.

Moreover, “the Master Plan has been built as a figure with regulatory strength, but it was approved by the Government of the Town Hall of Madrid without a prior report from the General Intervention or any report from the municipal legal services. Similarly, it was not subjected to any public consultation to allow citizens to express their opinions”, say sources at Asprima.

It is for this reason that Madrid’s Association of Property Developers considers that the Compensation Boards of Valdecarros, Berrocales and Los Cerros have sufficient legal grounds to request the suspension of the Plan and, in addition to the legal grounds, all of the economic and environmental data available to draw the conclusion that the developments in the southeast are absolutely necessary for the city.

Original story: El Mundo (by S. V.)

Translation: Carmel Drake