Bilbao City Council opposes allowing VTs in communities with social housing

The Bilbao City Council will oppose the installation of tourist accommodation (TV) in the 530 communities of neighbours in which it owns social housing. This is one of the measures detailed in the Strategic Plan for Municipal Housing 2024-2027 which was presented this Tuesday by the Councillor for Housing Yolanda Díez.

The measure aims to curb the proliferation of VTswhose number has increased by 30% in the last year. Díez has stressed that VTs constitute an economic activity that “does not take place in spaces where there is social housing.”

This Strategic Plan responds to one of the main social demands, decent access to housing. Another of the measures aimed at this objective will be the Creation of 200 more social rental homes in the next four years.

Of these, 93 will be small homes with communal areas, which are being built in the Amezola area, while the rest will be homes located in unused buildings.

The city already has more than 4,200 public rental housing units and, according to Díez, by the end of the Plan there will be 4,430 homes with “affordable rent”.

The councillor also explained that from now on next september will start on analysis of stressed areas of the city to be able to put limits on rental prices.

It will be at the end of this analysis when a conclusion can be made. photography of uninhabited housesAt present, it is estimated that there are around 3,000 uninhabited homes (never used) and 10,000 empty homes (with seasonal residents). 122 of those classified as uninhabited have already been activated for social rental.

The Plan also includes the creation of a municipal observatory to monitor the price of rental housing, and a municipal office to act as a one-stop shop,

The City Council will invest 25 million euros to implement this Strategic Plan.