From now on, most social housing (VPO) in Málaga will retain its status indefinitely, becoming a permanent part of the public housing stock. This measure, however, will not apply to ongoing developments.
The new regulation introduces a priority right of first refusal for the Junta de Andalucía or the City Council should a VPO owner wish to sell their property. The sale price will be subject to a legal maximum, determined by a regional scale linked to the IPC (Consumer Price Index), and the Housing Department must authorize any transaction.
“"Reversing the disqualification of VPO is possible thanks to three tools."
Housing Councillor Francisco Pomares explained that this protection is achieved through three avenues. The first is the State Housing Plan 2026-2030, which mandates that all VPO receiving public aid must be permanent. The second is Article 57 of the new Andalusian Housing Law, which stipulates that any development with public resources, whether land or funding, will be protected for life. The latter has been in effect since this year.
Furthermore, Málaga City Council will go a step further. In public lands ceded to private developers for VPO construction, the tender documents will include a condition that these homes can never be declassified. This aims to further safeguard protected housing, even those built on private land without direct public intervention.
Previously, the period for declassifying a VPO varied: seven years for Limited Price homes, ten for General Price, and fifteen for Special Price. Until 2022, this period was thirty years.
