The City Council is working on the processing for the construction of more than 1,200 subsidized housing units in different parts of the city.

There are 518 housing projects in Arroyo Vaquero, 260 in Camino de Cortes, 200 in Guadalobón and another 300 in Monterroso. The management of governments prior to 2011 has held back at least 1,500 homes, as they sold all the available municipal land to private developers without requiring them to pay 30% for subsidized housing.

The Estepona City Council is working on several initiatives aimed at providing the city with around 1,200 subsidized housing units (VPO) in areas such as Camino de Cortes, Camino Monterroso, Guadalobon or Arroyo Vaquero. Specifically, 260 have been programmed in Camino de Cortes in plots made available by the Consistory, more than 500 derived from the urban development in Arroyo Vaquero, 200 in Guadalobon, as well as another 300 in Monterroso.

The mayor, José María García Urbano, explained that “the main concern that I have at the moment as mayor is related to the housing problem”. He assures that, “unlike other administrations, who talk a lot and do nothing, the City Council of Estepona takes this issue seriously and in the coming days I will be designing a plan for the city to develop approximately 1,200 subsidized housing. The aim of this VPO Plan promoted by the government team is to facilitate access to housing for groups with greater difficulties.

The councilor recalled that in the first opportunity he had since he was mayor to obtain land for VPO, the transfer of the same was made to enable the construction of the 100 VPOs that were executed in the area of Juan Benitez. However, the disposal of other plots has not been an easy task due to the obstacle that the City Council has encountered by the “nefarious management of the municipal governments prior to 2011”, which sold all the municipal land for this type of housing to the developers of the developments of the partial plans, without requiring them the 30% corresponding to subsidized housing, leaving the city without public land on which to build VPO. The result of all this is that the city has lost the opportunity to build more than 1,500 subsidized housing units (VPO).

The most advanced project being worked on now is the one corresponding to the Camino de Cortes area. The Consistory sold these municipal lands in 2023 for the construction of a total of 110 subsidized housing units. The plots were acquired by Fundación Vimpyca, a non-profit construction charity whose objective is the promotion of subsidized housing, and which already has several promotions underway in other parts of the province of Malaga. Now, after the corresponding procedures for the development of the land, this entity has activated the projects. Specifically, the plot on which the first VPOs will be built in the province of Málaga.

The plot on which the first VPOs will be built in the area has 2,418 square meters, with a buildable area of 3,337 square meters and capacity for 32 dwellings. These are multi-family dwellings with parking space and storage room, in a single block and with common areas. The second plot, with an area of 5,882 square meters and a buildable area of 8,116 square meters, has a capacity for 78 homes.

The developer foundation has already presented the preliminary plans for these developments and in the next few days will proceed with the presentation of the corresponding basic project and application for the building permit.

For this same area, the City Council has in the contracting department the file to tender in the next few days plots where more than 150 VPOs can be built, which will join the 110 planned.

500 VPO in Arroyo Vaquero

The City Council gave the green light in the Plenary last November to the initial approval of the modification of a partial plan for the urban development of a 655,250 square meter plot in the area of Arroyo Vaquero, where 683 free income housing units may be built, which must be accompanied by another 518 subsidized housing units (VPO).

This initiative allows the generation and urbanization of building land for residential use, as well as the free transfer to the City Council of roads, open spaces, equipment and parking, as well as the reservation of 30% of the maximum density for subsidized housing.

In the processing of the file for these new homes in Arroyo Vaquero, as explained at the time the mayor, there will be the condition that for the City Council to grant a license of first occupation of a house in this sector, simultaneously will have to apply for the license of first occupation of VPO; that is, only license of first occupation will be granted to free income housing, if the subsidized housing is completed.

On the other hand, the City Council is also working on the administrative process to carry out a planning modification to obtain land to be used for the construction of some 300 subsidized housing units (VPO) in the Monterroso area, which would complete the previous initiatives.

Another of the initiatives is located in the Guadalobón sector, where the City Council is working on an innovation of the PGOU that will enable the Consistory to have 60,000 square meters for parks and public green spaces and land where a total of 199 subsidized housing units can be developed.

The mayor, José María García Urbano, has expressed his commitment to continue promoting the acquisition of plots for this type of housing in all new land to be developed urbanistically in the city.