Housing / UrbanismA commitment to public housing and space

Sóller is among the top-ranking towns nationwide for rent price increases.  Touristification and speculation mean that our young people simply cannot afford to rent decent housing in Sóller. The twin phenomena of touristification and gentrification also affect entire families, who are displaced from their communities.

So we need decisive action now to give  Sóller back to its inhabitants. The new state Housing Law provides municipalities with new tools to achieve this objective.

Here at Podemos Sóller, we are committed to building communities that are more resilient. Communities that can resist and protect themselves against speculation and the relentless commodification of our neighborhoods.

We therefore propose:

• To hand over the Teixidores or Cetre car park to the Balearic Housing Institute (IBAVI) to build social rental housing. Two floors of underground parking could be provided. On the ground floor, premises would be rented out at social prices for small businesses or young entrepreneurs.
• We will transfer the old Hospital to the IBAVI to build social rental housing.
• We will introduce Incentivized Affordable Housing, as foreseen in the new State Housing Law. After a heritage study, the segregation of large houses into apartments could be allowed, provided that the resulting homes are allocated to affordable rental housing for a set period of time (to be determined, but at least in accordance with the Urban Lease Law and the Housing Law). The Town Hall would cover the costs of a twelve-month rental non-payment insurance, annually, during the first five years.
• Also, based on the new Housing Law, we will promote a policy of Land Protected for Social Housing, protecting tracts of land from future speculation.
• We will establish a Town Hall one-stop shop to respond to the needs of the rental market, intermediating between house owners and tenants, managing rental subsidies for tenants and subsidies for the rehabilitation of rental housing.
• Municipal tax, IBI, surcharge on empty homes. We will continue to apply reductions in this tax to certain sectors of the population. Likewise, we will apply a reduction of IBI in houses certified class A and class B.
• We will review the General Urban Planning Plan (PGOU). We are stuck with an archaic and obsolete PGOU, which simply does not answer the needs of the citizens of Sóller.  It needs to be updated. 
• We will exercise greater control over the use of public space and the street furniture of the hospitality-sector terraces.
• We will promote the burying of aerial wiring of electrical and telephone networks.
• Inclusive lighting: We will review and update the lighting in public spaces, inclusively and with a gender perspective, eliminating spaces perceived as unsafe, improving accessibility for people with visual disability and reducing light pollution.