Thirty years ago, reconstruction was a secondary activity in the construction sector and accounted for only 5% of the total number of projects being implemented. Despite the gradual growth (in the period from 2017 to 2019, the number of renovated buildings increased by 10%), the figures recorded in the Spanish housing stock are still lower than in neighboring countries.
Government's National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PN IEC) for 2021-2030 has set the task of restoring a total of 1,200,000 residential premises.
To stimulate and implement this ambitious plan, the next generation EU funds are becoming a key financial mechanism, since out of EUR 2,253,000 allocated for housing construction in the state budget for 2021, EUR 1,651,000 are accounted for by European subsidies and will be used to restore the housing stock. The government has already approved the first part of the Urban Rehabilitation and Regeneration Plan, for the implementation of which EUR 6,820,000 will be allocated until 2023. It is necessary to achieve two goals.
The first is the repair of buildings and private houses, and the second is the repair of public buildings and the construction of new social real estate.
It should be remembered that half of the 25.2 million houses that make up the Spanish housing stock were built before 1980, when the first basic building regulations governing issues related to energy consumption, such as thermal insulation and energy consumption, came into force.
«In order to achieve the level of savings required by Europe, it will be necessary to modernize not only the facades, but also the roofs», warns Ricardo Alarcon, architect and coordinator of the course «Financing and management mechanisms for residential renovation» at the Official College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC).