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The Ministry of Defense puts 8.170 properties on sale.

As part of the strategy of deep budget cuts experimented by the Army during the crisis in order to reduce their position in the red, the Ministry of Defense wishes to renounce to most of its real estate patrimony. According to the figures of the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage, the Institute for Housing, Infrastructure and Equipment for Defense (HIED) has put 8170 properties on sale.

The Army is interested in getting rid of 6906 homes which need to be sold in compliance with the current legislation, which establishes that they need to be offered first to the Armed Forces. That is, the servicemen that are living in them. These homes are offered to their legitimate holders for their lifelong use. In 2012, 92 of such homes have been sold, with an input of 7,9 million Euros into the public coffers.

The State revealed in June that it has put 15000 properties on sale, and 53% of them belong to the Ministry of Defense. Apart from the 7000 homes and houses occupied by servicemen and that have to be sold, there are also 135 rural properties, 199 plots and 714 trade premises. They also wish to sell 83 “significant” buildings belonging to the military.

Although the Government is not completely satisfied with the results of the sale of properties belonging to the State, the new strategy is showing good results in spite of the difficulties created by the real estate bubble. Until now, most of the earnings experienced by the State thanks to the sale of buildings have been achieved by the Institute of Housing, Infrastructure and Equipment for Defense (HIED). This institution raised 44,1 million Euros of the 53 million obtained by the Government in all. However the HIED has declared in its annual report that the crisis has caused “a lower number of petitioners and a lower price of the properties.”(…)