The Sevilla City Council, through Emvisesa, Formalized the Purchase of 18 Empty, Private Houses for Social Uses at the Cost of More than One Million Euros

29 August 2018

The Municipal Housing Company of Sevilla, Emvisesa, concluded a purchase agreement for the acquisition of 18 of the homes it had been offered through its First Program for Acquisition of Empty Houses, at a total investment of 1,043,684 euros, plus adaptation works expected to cost 100,000 euros and the corresponding expenses and taxes.

“This is the fulfilment of another of this government’s commitments by which we received a good response in our quest to incorporate new flats to the housing stock to cover the social needs of the population of Sevilla, given that the existing municipal public housing is already completely occupied,” the delegate for Social Welfare and Employment, Juan Manuel Flores, explained.

After awarding more than 600 homes during the present municipal mandate, Emvisesa has allocated the totality of its housing stock. The result is a strategy of urgent expansion of the public housing stock and the new Sevilla Municipal Housing Plan (PMVS), establishing disparate intervention initiatives in the housing sector to favour access to housing by citizens and respond to different types of the population’s needs, among which is the acquisition of empty homes.

These 18 homes, located in different neighbourhoods of the city, are now added to the 63 obtained through the Ramón Carande land exchange project that have already been delivered to the City Council, as well as those achieved through the rental acquisition program and the agreements signed with banking entities. The objective is included in the Municipal Housing and Land Plan, which established financing of more than 11 million euros for the different acquisition programs by Emvisesa, the Urban Planning Management, Municipal Assets, in addition to external financing. The objective established in the PMVS, consisting of the capture of between 15 and 50 homes per year between 2018 and 2023, will be largely exceeded in 2018, as 81 empty homes have already been acquired.

Emvisesa is already finalising a new campaign to capture vacant homes that will be permanently open, in a similar way to how the Empty Housing Uptake Program (Rental) works. The operation was already approved at the last Municipal Plenary, and the bases for its approval are being finalised in the coming weeks.

These measures will allow the immediate expansion of the municipal stock of housing alongside others planned in the PMVS, such as the development of more than more than 1,000 protected homes through new construction and rehabilitation.

Original Story: Emvisesa

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Town Hall of Sevilla Grants Plot to Insur in Exchange for 63 Homes, 3 Retail Premises & €3.5M

6 July 2018 – Inmodiario

The Town Hall of Sevilla, through Emvisesa, and the company Inmobiliaria del Sur (Insur) have formalised an operation to exchange a plot of land on c/Ramón Carande included within the strategy to urgently expand the public housing stock and approved by the Town hall with a final value of €11.2 million, excluding the investment that the company will make to develop the land acquired.

In this way, and following a public tender, the city is exchanging a plot of land worth €7 million on which it will build up to 68 homes, for 63 constructed and completed homes, plus three commercial premises, a plot of land for 135 flats and €3.5 million.

“This is an innovative project of a social nature, which we launched with the backing of the Town Hall at the start of the mandate and which is now a reality. It is a good agreement for the city, which allows us to respond to an urgent need: to expand the public housing stock immediately”, explained the Mayor of Sevilla, who participated in the event at which the exchange agreement was signed together with the Delegate for Social Well-being and Employment, Juan Manuel Flores; the Delegate for Urban Living, Tourism and Culture, Antonio Muñoz; the Manager of Emvisesa, Felipe Castro; and the President and CEO of Inmobiliaria del Sur, Ricardo and Francisco Pumar.

Upon signing the agreement, the company handed over the 63 completed homes to the Town Hall. They are ready for the tenants to move into and 51 of them are located in the same block, on Avenida de Andalucía. They have a total appraisal value of €6.5 million.

The local government, through Emvisesa, is already working to formalise the change in rating from sale to rental and to complete their award (to their new tenants) as soon as possible with the following split: 70% will be allocated to young people recorded in the claimants register and the remaining 30% will be social housing properties based on criteria established by Social Well-being.

Similarly, three commercial premises are being incorporated into the town hall’s portfolio, which will be marketed as part of the municipal employment programs. A plot of land in Valdezorras is also being incorporated, where 135 more affordable homes may be built, which will be executed by Emvisesa.

Finally, Emvisesa will also receive €1.2 million from this operation, which will be used to purchase empty Emvisesa homes that have a total budget of €1.5 million and which already has 25 homes appraised and valid for acquisition. The remaining €2.3 million will be used for renovation projects, such as the new inter-generational housing block on c/García Ramos.

Original story: Inmodiario 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aedas Homes Unveils its Plans for Hacienda del Rosario (Sevilla)

8 January 2018 – ABC Sevilla

A new neighbourhood with more than 1,000 homes for families aged between 30 and 45 at affordable prices. That is the project that is now being built in Hacienda del Rosario, right opposite the Decathlon store and next to the Parsi Industrial Estate. The aim is to develop the city’s urban planning project and recover the demographic indices last seen a decade ago.

The Aedas Homes group is going to build 1,046 two-, three- and four-bedroom homes in seven 10-storey towers over a surface area of 93,000 m2, of which 73,000 m2 will comprise green space. And the Town Hall is going to build another 218 social housing properties on an adjacent plot, owned by the Urban Planning Department, which Emvisesa has already started to process. That means that by the start of 2019, Sevilla will have a new district with more than 2,000 homes, including not only these projects but also the one in Santa Bárbara.

On Monday, the mayor, Juan Espadas, visited the site where Aedas – which is also responsible for the Cisneo Alto project and the new Ramón y Cajal urbanisations – is starting work on land that it purchased in 2016 from Gabriel Rojas in the East of the city. Specifically, the plots are located between the A-92 and the shopping centre that houses the aforementioned Decathlon store. The access roads have already been built and the Town Hall has granted the relevant licences for the construction of the residential areas, which will include a park measuring seven hectares, a social club and common areas with a swimming pool and padel courts.

For Espadas, “this project is not simply a housing development, but rather the creation of a new neighbourhood in Sevilla, which means that we are at the beginning of the post-crisis and we have left behind the black hole in the construction sector”. The area of expansion is destined for “established families who want a more comfortable environment at a good price”, explains the mayor. The regional director of Aedas, Diego Chacón, highlight that these homes will cost between €120,000 and €150,000, and will be financed by Banco Santander and constructed by San José. The first tower, which will have 142 homes, will be handed over within a year. And from then, the area will come to life continuously in search of a clear objective that the major himself has admitted: “The registration of citizens (‘empadronamiento’) in the city will be activated again”.

Original story: ABC Sevilla (by Alberto García Reyes)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Work Begins on the First 142 Homes in Hacienda del Rosario (Sevilla)

8 January 2018 – Emvisesa

Today, the mayor of Sevilla, Juan Espadas, together with the representative for Urban Habitats, Culture and Tourism, Antonio Muñoz, the representative for the Este-Alcosa-Torreblanca District, Adela Castaño and the manager of Emvisesa, Felipe Castro, have visited the new housing development in Jardines de Hacienda del Rosario (Sevilla), where the first 142 homes are now being built on a site where more than 2,000 new homes are planned. In total, the urban development planned in the PGOU affects more than 460,000 m2 of space including residential land, open spaces, green areas and other facilities.

“This development shows that the large projects planned in the PGOU are being unblocked and that the housing sector is reactivating, which should contribute to the city through new developments and renovations to generate opportunities, especially for young people, to reduce unemployment and to increase the population registered in Sevilla. It must always be done in a sustainable and balanced way”, said the mayor of Sevilla, who highlighted that the model also includes a mix of private and subsidised homes, like in the case of Hacienda del Rosario. Of the 2,000 homes planned there, 824 will be social housing properties.

The urban development has been initiated by Aedas Homes, with the first of seven private residential buildings, inside a residential complex with more than 33,000 m2 of open space, including garden areas, a social club and children’s play areas. In total, 142 of the 1,000 homes planned are being constructed and the idea is that these first properties will be handed over at the beginning of 2019.

This same urban development is one of those included in the strategy to urgently expand the public stock of homes designed by Emvisesa with the aim of building 1,000 social housing properties over the next few years. To this end, the paperwork has been started by the Urban Planning Department to grant Evisesa the first plot in Hacienda del Rosario so that it can build 218 subsidised homes there on the plot measuring 9,044 m2.

Juan Espadas has confirmed that Emvisesa’s Board of Directors has already given the green light to the provision by the Urban Planning Department of a plot for the construction of a first set of 218 homes at affordable prices, to be constructed and promoted by Emvisesa. Therefore, there will be a harmonious development of affordable and private housing, like has been seen in other neighbourhoods in the city.

“Many projects are being unblocked, which reflects the economic reactivation that is being achieved in the city”, explains the mayor of Sevilla. In fact, the volume of building permits granted in 2017 exceeded €230 million, almost double the volume granted in the previous year. Moreover, more than 1,000 housing licences were granted, equivalent to the sum of all of those granted in the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

In this sense, the mayor highlighted the importance of the definitive approval at the recent Plenary of the modification to the Ordinance Regulating Construction Work and Activity (OROA) issued by the Town Hall of Sevilla to streamline the procedures and facilitate the opening of new projects in the city, as well as the process that is entering its final phase to unify the services of Urban Planning and the Environment.

Original story: Emvisesa

Translation: Carmel Drake

Five Offers Submitted for c/Ramón Carande Plot in Sevilla

27 November 2017 – Diario Sevilla

The offers that have been presented by the five business groups that are participating in the exchange of the plot located on Ramón Carande, tendered by the Municipal Housing Company of Sevilla (Emvisesa), range between €7,010,000 and €9,926,094, including cash, land and finished homes.

On this plot, which is worth €7 million and which had space for the construction of just 68 homes initially, Juan Espadas has decided to exchange the land for development (…) with the aim of building 400 homes.

In this way, according to municipal sources, the envelopes containing the economic offers presented by the bidders have now been opened by the ‘Cesa de Contratación’. At the event, which was very well attended, representatives from the five bidding entities were present, including from Inmobiliaria del Sur SA, Abu Capital 2000 SL, Vía Celere Desarrollos Inmobiliarios SA, Salvo Global Property SL and Urbanismo y Promoción Meridional SL, as well as the managers of Gaesco and Inmobiliaria Viapol SA.

The values of the economic offers from the companies range between €7,010,000 and €9,926,094. Moreover, the valuation includes cash, land and finished homes that Emvisesa will receive in exchange for the land on Ramón Carande.

In this context, of the technical and urban planning documentation relating to these properties, the appraisal and report have been submitted to Emvisesa’s technical services for analysis, prior to the award, in accordance with the tender document that governs the procedure.

The aim of this exchange operation is that the sum of the homes obtained through this triple route allows the number of homes in the public stock to be increased by more than 400, whereby multiplying the number of dwellings authorised for the plot on Ramón Carande by six. Moreover, given that some of these 400 homes are already finished, Emvisesa should have a reasonable number of homes available immediately.

Original story: Diario Sevilla

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sevilla’s Municipal Gov’t To Boost Social Housing Stock By 1,000 Over 3 Years

5 October 2017 – Emvisesa

Last week, the mayor of Sevilla, Juan Espadas, together with the delegate for Social Welfare and Employment, Juan Manuel Flores, and the manager of Emvisesa, Felipe Castro, presented the “Strategy for the urgent expansion of the public housing stock (for Sevilla)”, which is aimed at securing at least 1,000 extra homes for rent over the next three years.

These actions will be carried out immediately, whilst the new Municipal Housing Plan for 2018-2024 is being finalised (…).

“We find ourselves with a dismantled Housing Company and an abolished Housing Plan, without any alternatives. We have worked for two years to take different measures and now we are advancing with a housing strategy for Sevilla for the next eight or nine years”, explained the mayor of Sevilla, Juan Espadas.

In this way, the Housing Company, together with the department for Social Welfare and Employment and the Urban Planning team, has designed some immediate steps to expand the stock of public rental homes by 1,000 units over the next three years. This is expected to involve a global budget of around €100 million.

First of all, the Program will be developed through rental housing initiatives (the current tender will be strengthened) and house purchases (a new tender will be held soon). The hope is to obtain around 470 homes through this route.

Secondly, the envelopes for the tender of the Ramón Carande plot will be opened in October. The plan is to obtain resources, land and homes relating to 400 properties in this way in total.

Thirdly, properties owned by the Town Hall and land owned by the Municipal Land Company have been identified for the construction of 520 homes on land in the following areas: Sur, Torreblanca, Macarena, Norte and Carretera de Carmona. Almost all of these sites are available for construction work to be started in the short term.

Financing

To finance this whole operation, as well as resorting to typical bank loans, like for the construction of any other of housing development, the Town Hall of Sevilla is going to make contributions and 230 homes are going to be built, within the same Program, which will go up for sale.

In this way, although 1,215 homes will be constructed in total, 230 will be sold (whereby responding to the demand from 40% of the applicants on the public housing register) to contribute to the financing of the operation as a whole (…).

The strategy will be presented during the first half of October to Emvisesa’s Board of Directors; it will be enriched with any constructive and positive proposals presented; and it will be boosted to begin construction of the homes and the programs to acquire homes in the short term.

Original story: Emvisesa

Translation: Carmel Drake