The Marga Prohens government's first major initiative after taking office in June 2023 was to pass a decree of emergency housing measures. The measures in this original decree had to be approved by town halls. Some were, some weren't. Included among them was the conversion of commercial premises into residential accommodation. Palma was one municipality that immediately adopted this, the councillor for housing, Oscar Fidalgo, having suggested that up to 3,000 homes could be created by the various measures. When it comes to the conversion of commercial premises, there are, to date, 45.
In all, 193 conversions of this type are under way in the Balearics, the figure having been confirmed by the housing minister, José Luis Mateo. Palma has the most, then come Manacor (28), Inca (20), Calva (18), Marratxi (17), and Muro (16).
Another measure was to allow existing residential buildings to grow in height - a floor or two could be added. There are so far 132 new apartments being processed, 128 of them in Palma and four in Formentera.
133 new apartments are being created thanks to the possibility of finishing buildings that hadn't been completed, including some that weren't on town hall registers. In each of Andratx, Manacor and Montuïri there are to be some 40 apartments according to this provision. In Alcudia there are three.
The lowest number, 34, is for apartments from the conversion of tourist establishments, two of which are in the village of Costitx. The others are in Sant Llorenç (15), Manacor (eleven) and Ses Salines (six). While not a great number, it might be noted that a similar attempt at conversion under the previous government resulted in no new homes.
In all cases, these new homes are subject to the government's limited-price scheme. Be they for rent or for sale, the prices are below market value, typically by around 30%.
The government estimates that around 4,000 new (affordable) homes will be developed. If so, these owe far more to measures adopted after the original decree was issued, e.g. Build to Rent, a scheme whereby town halls have transferred municipal land for apartments to be built for rent and which are subject to the same limited-price regime.
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