APCE is committed to increasing buildability of properties in order to encourage owners to renovate their properties and make progress in energy efficiency.
Increasing buildability in exchange for energy efficiency renovation of housing. That is the proposal that the Association of Developers and Builders of Spain (Apce) is beginning to communicate to public administrations to facilitate the energy renovation of the housing stock in Spain and thus make it more efficient.
“We must overcome the reluctance to rehabilitate and, for that, we must give the owners, whether small or large, incentives to do so,” says Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado, president of Apce, in an interview with EjePrime.
The arrival of European funds from the Next Generation recovery plan will be the starting signal to make housing in Spain more energy efficient, which is essential to comply with international protocols to combat climate emergency. Apce estimates that public funds for these reforms will amount to 4,000 million euros over the next four years, an amount that will rise to 16,000 million with the mandatory private support.
Developers are pushing for new buildable land and tax incentives to encourage owners to make the most of these resources. “The famous Eixample de Barcelona’s famous ski lifts are a good example, but in peripheral neighborhoods, adjacent plots of land suitable for building could be sought,” explains Gómez-Pintado. This new buildable land would be put in the hands of the different communities of owners with the obligation to sell it and thus obtain resources for the energy rehabilitation of the buildings.
The developers’ association estimates that over the next four years 16 billion euros will be earmarked for the energy rehabilitation of homes
“We are looking for a virtuous circle in which European subsidies, tax incentives and the sale on the market of this new buildability will encourage the owner to do his part to carry out the renovation of the property,” explains the president of Spanish promoters.
In any case, the plan is a long-term one. Most of Spain’s residential housing stock has a poor energy efficiency certificate. The Apce estimates that all pre-2010 homes will need some kind of reform, which will be greater as the age of the property. “In all of them it will be necessary to act on facades, roofs and boilers,” says Gómez-Pintado.
All this with the aim of achieving the rehabilitation of half a million homes in the next three years and up to 1.2 million units by 2030.
