The Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, has announced in her appearance before the Plenary of Congress the launch of the telephone number 047 for citizen assistance in housing matters.
"Public data at the service of the general interest and no more private data at the service of a few," Rodríguez stressed regarding the new citizen service number. "It will be a unified, accessible, free channel for consultation on aid programs, access to housing, rehabilitation, rent, or any other question in the field of housing," he detailed.
The Ministry has already made the formal request to the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Civil Service for the allocation of the number 047, within the framework of the National Telephone Numbering Plan. And the measure will be submitted to the Council of Ministers in the coming weeks.
The arrival of the new short number coincides with the 47th anniversary of Article 47 of the Constitution, which states that all Spaniards have the right to decent and adequate housing, and that mandates public authorities to act to prevent speculation.
The minister also announced that a protocol will be signed this week with the Generalitat de Catalunya to allow the transfer of the usufruct of the management of the state-owned company's housing, which amounts to a total of 13,000 homes and 300 plots of land in the territory, in varying degrees of urbanization.
State Housing Plan 2026-2030
The minister has presented the three main pillars of the PEV to the parliamentary groups, which consist of an unprecedented investment for the promotion of protected housing, a commitment to the rehabilitation of homes and their rental, and aid to reduce the effort in paying for housing. All of this, with five main objectives:
1. Increase the stock of affordable housing, which will be permanently protected.
2. Rehabilitate the park built with efficiency and accessibility criteria, as well as promote urban and rural regeneration.
3. Reduce the age of emancipation.
4. Reduce the financial burden of accessing decent, quality housing.
5. Reverse the stressed market areas.
Isabel Rodríguez has made a historical review of the different plans that have been in force in Spain and stated "clearly that this plan is not just another one: it is a real paradigm shift. It is the tool with which we want to establish, once and for all, the fifth pillar of the Welfare State." And for this, she has requested that it be done through consensus.
Protection of public housing stock and promotion of subsidized housing. The minister has argued that the PEV [Housing Plan] is intended to "correct those errors that have already been diagnosed and are shared." And that it consists of "increasing the promotion of public, protected, and permanent housing" through an "unprecedented" budgetary effort of 7 billion euros, with a commitment to "residential rentals and housing rehabilitation."
"Our number one goal is to consolidate that park, which will allow us to avoid these (housing) problems repeatedly in our country later on," he stated from the speaker's platform.
Young People, Priority of the State Housing Plan
The Minister explained that one of the objectives of the new plan is to reduce the age of emancipation, a problem that is not new, "the levels have remained the same for 25 years, but continue to hinder life projects and it is necessary to continue working to tackle them."
In that regard, she has stated that the measures involve “rental assistance with the option to purchase protected housing on a permanent basis. Aid for the purchase of housing in municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is being increased to 15,000 euros, to contribute to the objective of establishing a population in the
rural areas. We are strengthening rental assistance so that it reaches more young people. We will launch the youth rental guarantee, which has also been requested and worked on with some members of this House.”
Likewise, the Plan "will allow for the construction of more housing for young people on endowment land and, due to its importance, we are simultaneously working with public universities to support them in the implementation of residential accommodations, as well as requiring those private universities that want to establish themselves in our territory to come with a residence in tow."
A plan agreed upon with autonomous communities and social actors. Isabel Rodríguez has emphasized that the interest of the Ministry she leads is to achieve consensus around the Plan, something she observes in the meetings held.
He also explained that the PEV has received 362 contributions during the public consultation period from public administrations and citizens, including the autonomous communities.
And, in that interest in consensus, Rodríguez has developed different contributions that have already been included in the draft of the Plan that is being prepared within the Executive. "We have incorporated the possibility of maintaining the rehabilitation offices," he explained, as well as including coverage with the Plan's budget for the management expenses involved; and allocating a portion of the investment to land development.
Lastly, he announced that they have also included "a governance system and an audit" that will be carried out annually by the Housing Advisory Council, whose members will be appointed before the end of this year.
Management Report
From the podium, Isabel Rodríguez defended that the Housing Law is "the regulatory framework that allows us to deploy actions whose effects have already begun to translate into data that indicate that we are on the right track." In that sense, she explained that public data certifies that rental contracts in Spain increased by 5% with the approval of the Law, and the price of rentals has been reduced by an average of 4.7% in Catalonia, according to data from the Generalitat's deposit registry.
Likewise, he has highlighted the Executive's push for the construction of social housing, emphasizing the 61.5% increase in public works tenders for family housing in 2024, compared to the previous year. And the promotion of "102,511 social housing units, compared to the 53,754 in the three legislatures of Mariano Rajoy."
“Solving the problem is everyone's business”
From the podium of the Lower House, the minister has called for consensus among the groups. "We all have things to contribute and we must be capable of forging those consensuses," she argued, and asked to "raise our sights" to solve the problem.
In that regard, she has asked parliamentarians to expedite the processing of the proposed laws for the regulation of seasonal rentals; the two on tax measures to promote affordable rental prices and combat speculation; and the proposed law taken into consideration last week to prosecute the advertising of illegal tourist apartments.
