The Minister of Development, Territorial Articulation, and Housing, Rocío Díaz, visited the promotion of 60 protected houses in Huerta Santa Isabel, Córdoba, where the construction works have been completed. Rocío Díaz emphasized the Andalusian Government’s commitment «to public-private collaboration to provide access to protected housing for those who need it most», with innovative approaches such as the land exchange system for built houses by the Andalusian Housing and Rehabilitation Agency (AVRA).
Rocío Díaz pointed out that, thanks to this operation, «a plot that had been unused and underutilized for years has been transformed into life projects in one of the major expansion areas of the capital.» She also announced that, once the works are finished, the developer will hand over the first keys to these protected houses for general sale in July to their tenants.
The Minister recalled that Córdoba had been waiting for this construction since 2012, but not a single step was taken until the arrival of the Juanma Moreno government, which included the Huerta Santa Isabel promotion in its land exchange program for built housing. Through this system, public land is offered to a developer to build protected houses and, in return, part is handed over to the Junta de Andalucía (AVRA). In this case, the developer delivered ten houses, ten parking spaces, and three storage rooms. «The completion of these works demonstrates that when the public and private sectors join forces, projects tend to succeed,» she said.
On the other hand, the Mayor of Córdoba, José María Bellido, highlighted the importance of the City Council of Córdoba and the Junta de Andalucía sharing a common philosophy and actions to promote solutions that facilitate access to housing, a problem that concerns millions of people. Bellido emphasized that «Córdoba is growing in terms of housing thanks to public-private collaboration, and the housing measures promoted by the Juanma Moreno government have allowed Córdoba to successfully contain the price of housing in the last six years and to continue promoting new houses like those being developed in Huerta de Santa Isabel Oeste in collaboration with the Junta.»
The promotion has a capacity for 60 protected houses for general sale, with 60 garages and 23 storage rooms, with an investment of 7.3 million euros, including the land value and other associated expenses. The building consists of six floors and a ground floor, as well as a basement where the parking spaces and storage rooms are located.
The houses have an average usable area of 72.67 square meters, on a plot of 2,302.24 square meters. Out of the 60 houses, 57 have three bedrooms, with two designed for people with reduced mobility, and the remaining three have two bedrooms.
The construction was carried out using materials that promote high energy efficiency, such as an external thermal insulation system, PVC windows with thermal break technology, and louvre blinds with home automation. Additionally, there is acoustic insulation under the flooring of the houses to minimize noise, an intelligent device with alerts for water or gas leaks, floods, or fires connected to mobile phones, a collective hot water production system per building, pre-installation of centralized cold air conditioning system, and installation of heating in each house through radiators in all rooms.
The houses also feature kitchen furniture and a home automation system for closing blinds. Lastly, the promotion includes a swimming pool, and the garages are equipped with pre-installation for electric vehicle charging points.
More houses in Córdoba
Rocío Díaz highlighted the Andalusian Government’s commitment to housing in the city of Córdoba, which goes beyond this promotion. She cited the urbanization works of Sector O4 Huerta Santa Isabel Oeste, which have a budget of 32 million contributed by the Junta, Vimpyca, the City Council, and other private developers. This project, she noted, is the largest residential land development in all of Andalusia and will enable the construction of 3,663 free and protected houses. Currently, the works are 33% completed.
She also mentioned the grant of subsidies for the construction of 113 social rental houses for seniors on Joaquín Sama Naharro street amounting to 6.7 million euros: one aid through the Rental Housing and Use Assignment Promotion Plan, and a second grant from the Ecovivienda Plan, the mechanism devised by the Junta de Andalucía for the management of European Next Generation funds in housing.
Groundbreaking for six public rental houses in Posadas
Díaz also attended, along with the President of the Diputación de Córdoba, Salvador Fuentes, and the Mayor of Posadas, Emilio Martínez, the groundbreaking ceremony for six social rental houses in Posadas. This project is part of the Diputación’s plan to build 42 houses in 10 Cordoban municipalities, which has received a grant of two million euros from the Junta de Andalucía through the Ecovivienda Plan.
Rocío Díaz, during the ground-breaking ceremony for six social rental houses in Posadas (Córdoba).
These protected houses for general sale will be built on Compositor Maestro Lucena street in Posadas on municipal land and are semi-detached single-family houses with two floors on a usable area of 423 square meters. The promotion has a total investment of 595,860 euros, half of which comes from a grant from Line 6 of the Ecovivienda Plan. The estimated execution period for the works is nine months and three weeks.
The Minister of Development emphasized the importance of collaboration between administrations to address the social housing demand, as «the combination of efforts allows for the realization of new developments that improve the lives of many families.» «Housing is a priority for the Juanma Moreno government, and we demonstrate it through actions, by laying the foundation stones and facilitating its construction,» she stated, recalling measures such as the LISTA Law or the processing of the Andalusian Housing Law, which is expected to begin its parliamentary process by the end of this summer. She also mentioned that the urgent decree-law on housing measures has already been approved, providing «tools to municipalities to make all land available for the construction of protected housing.»
In this regard, she noted that, in addition to this promotion in Posadas, agreements with the Diputación de Córdoba include the construction of seven protected houses in Hornachuelos, another seven in Nueva Carteya, five in Iznájar, four in Hinojosa del Duque, three in Fuente Palmera, three in Dos Torres, three in Fuente Carreteros, three in Aguilar de la Frontera, and one in El Viso. The total budget for the ten promotions is 4.3 million euros, two of which are provided through the Junta de Andalucía’s grant program.
Additionally, the Diputación and the Junta have also reached a second agreement to build another promotion of four rental houses in La Carlota, which will also benefit from the Ecovivienda Plan grants (189,000 euros).
On the other hand, the President of the Diputación de Córdoba, Salvador Fuentes, stated that «housing is a priority around which public policies should revolve, establishing dynamic collaboration mechanisms that allow us to offer opportunities to those who want to develop their future projects in their municipality.»
By availing the grants from Line 6 of the Ecovivienda Plan of the Junta de Andalucía, there is a commitment for this building to be energy-efficient and to be earmarked for rental for a period of 50 years.
The Ministry of Development had previously promoted protected housing developments in collaboration with the Diputación, through its promotion aid program (Rental Housing and Use Assignment Promotion), launched in 2019 with Juanma Moreno’s assumption of the Andalusian government. Thanks to these grants, keys have already been handed over for two social rental housing developments in Carcabuey (2) and Villafranca de Córdoba (3).
