The Consell grants Dénia the right of first refusal and withdrawal for the purchase of homes

The second vice president and Minister of Housing and Bioclimatic Architecture, Héctor Illueca, and the mayor of Dénia, Vicent Grimalt, have signed a collaboration agreement for the transfer by the Generalitat of the rights of first refusal and withdrawal of the homes they own located in this municipality. Some homes that will later be used for social rent to families with the greatest housing need.

Héctor Illueca with Vicent Grimalt in the Dénia consistory

The vice president has declared that with this visit "we are strengthening an alliance with the municipal corporation" of a City Council that in recent years "has demonstrated its political will to intervene in housing with ambitious public policies at the service of the general interests."

Vice President Illueca has highlighted that with the signing of this agreement "the City Council of Dénia joins the network of municipalities and municipal entities collaborating with the Generalitat" in housing matters. "An ever-growing network that is allowing us to expand the public park, serving, with greater precision, the residential needs of each municipality."

Likewise, it has ensured that the trial and error is an "innovative tool that allows a deep intervention of the administration in the real estate market, which has proven its effectiveness and has allowed to expand the public part".

So much so that of the 767 homes in which the public park has been expanded during this legislature in a total of 82 municipalities, at a cost of 43,1 million euros, 476 have been through trial and error, with a investment of 23,8 million. The remaining 189 homes have been incorporated by direct purchase and 102 through competition.

Likewise, it has stated that the application of the trial and error allows "to continue advancing in a strategic objective of the Second Vice Presidency and the Department of Housing contemplated in the Habitat 20-30 Plan, and that it is none other than the municipalization of housing policies" . In this sense, he added that "in the coming months we will take a new qualitative leap with the different actions that we are coordinating from the Vice Presidency to channel European funds to local entities."

He has also recalled that, with the aim of achieving a solid and stable public housing stock in the municipalities, the Generalitat facilitates the acquisition of housing by the municipalities, transferring the rights of first refusal and withdrawal of autonomous ownership.

Along these lines, he stressed that "it is the ideal means to consolidate public housing assets, given that these properties, in most cases, are in a position to be made available to the public immediately".

For his part, the mayor of Dénia has assured that this agreement is "one more step and fully consistent with municipal housing policies" and has thanked "this possibility that we have been given to expand the public park." Likewise, he has considered that "the courageous commitment to decentralization" that the Vice Presidency is making "will implement measures of authentic social justice that help the most vulnerable groups to get ahead."

The dwellings that are acquired will be classified as official protection on a permanent basis and will be incorporated into the municipal public park. They will be used for the habitual residence of families, individuals or groups with limited social resources or in vulnerable situations.

Investment in the municipality

Subsequently, the vice president and the mayor have met to discuss and analyze the execution of the main projects that the Department carries out in the municipality and that amount to an investment of almost 400.000 euros. The general director of Housing and Urban Regeneration, Elena Azcárraga, also participated in the meeting.

In emergency aid for COVID-19, through the General Directorate of Housing Emergency Dénia has received 54.672 euros. While the General Directorate of Housing has allocated 120.000 euros to the acquisition of a property through a purchase tender.

As for the Xarxa Xaloc, the agreement with the Consistory is endowed with 69.000 euros. In this regard, Héctor Illueca has valued as "very positive the start-up of the Xaloc office in Dénia, which has allowed to serve 565 people since its opening in October 2020." In addition, he recalled that it was one of the first municipalities in the Community and the first in the province of Alicante in which the Xaloc office was launched.

The office has five service units. The first of these is the one-stop shop for housing, building rehabilitation and urban regeneration to provide information and advice on the Generalitat's public policies.

In addition to the Habitat management units for the maintenance and management of the pool of applicants for a rental, it also has the protection of housing tenure to provide information in foreclosure processes or any other legal procedure. It also has the rehabilitation and energy efficiency unit and the Local Housing Observatory to provide careful and valuable information on the state of housing needs in the municipality.

With regard to the public park of the Generalitat in Dénia, there are 52 homes that are managed through l´Entitat Valenciana d´Habitatge i Sol (EVha) and in which the Ministry has invested 90.000 euros in repairs.

Performances in the Marina Alta

On the other hand, the vice president has also highlighted the actions launched in other municipalities of La Marina by the Department. Among them, the Pla Conviure stands out, which has allocated 3.000 euros to La Vall de la Gallinera and another 496.431 euros for the adaptation and remodeling of San Judas, Santa Ana and Alicante streets in Xaló. It is an action agreed with the neighborhood, since the proposal arose from a participatory process that the municipality carried out.

In total, the Conviure Plan has allocated 502.432 euros in the region of the Marina Alta. The objective is the rehabilitation and adaptation of municipal heritage buildings of a social, cultural or historical nature, as well as the adaptation of streets, squares or leisure or recreation areas, with the aim of improving infrastructures and equipment in an efficient, fast way. , efficient and sustainable. Héctor Illueca has declared that with these grants "we emphasize the democratization of the streets of the Marina Alta, in which the municipalities and their streets are spaces for meeting, coexistence and community development".

To this must be added the Recuperem Llars program aimed at the rehabilitation of homes or buildings of local entities for housing or social rental. Within this plan, the Vice President has invested 66.760 euros in Dénia in two homes.

With all this, the owner of Housing has highlighted that the total investments in the Marina Alta add up to more than 900.000 euros and have been used to expand the public park and improve the conditions of the entire park built.

As well as strengthening and rehabilitating common spaces, because "the citizens of this region must have guaranteed accessibility to housing and public spaces in their municipalities."