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Town Hall Of Madrid Launches Campaign To Buy 150 Homes
7 February 2017 – El Confidencial
The Town Hall of Madrid, governed by Ahora Madrid, wants to increase its stock of social rental housing. The decision was taken last September by the Board of Directors of the Empresa Municipal de la Vivienda y Suelo de Madrid (Madrid’s Municipal Land and Housing Company or EMVS), but the marketing campaign has not been launched until now.
Its aim is to attract the attention of individuals and companies that are looking to sell off their homes. However, not all properties qualify. Homes must be “free from charges and levies, tenants, occupants and squatters”. In other words, they must be empty. Moreover, the Town Hall has said that it will pay between €65,000 and €160,000 per property. The EMVS is hoping to acquire 150 homes in total (…).
Nevertheless, the Town Hall is not willing to pay any price, not even for those homes located in the best neighbourhoods. (…). It has established fixed prices for the homes it is will to buy, which vary depending on location. In this way, the price per m2 may not exceed €1,300 in Puente de Vallecas and Villaverde; €1,500 in Carabanchel, Latina, Usera, Vicálvaro and Villa de Vallecas; €1,800 in Arganzuela, Ciudad Lineal, Hortaleza, Moratalaz, San Blas and Tetuán, and €2,000 in Centro, Chamartín, Chamberí, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Moncloa-Aravaca, Retiro and Salamanca.
On the basis of these figures, the Town Hall is going to spend, at least, €9.7 million (assuming that it buys 150 homes measuring 50 m2 and pays €1,300/m2 for each one). (…).
To put these figures in context, the price per m2 of second-hand homes in the neighbourhoods of Salamanca and Retiro amounted to €4,590/m2 and €3,734/m2 at the end of 2016, according to data from Idealista. Meanwhile, prices stood at around €1,400/m2 in Puente de Vallecas and Villaverde. (…).
Interested vendors should submit their tenders by 14:00 on 1 March 2017 in the EMVS’s General Registry in Calle Palos de la Frontera, 13. Further information is available on the EMVS website.
Original story: El Confidencial
Translation: Carmel Drake