The hiring of new homes and rehabilitations in the Girona counties has fallen by 32.54% during 2020. According to statistics from the Association of Surveyors, over the past year a total of 1,855 homes have been contracted (whether blocks of flats or houses), 895 less than during 2019 when there were 2,750.
The president of the College, Miquel Vendrell, attributes the decline to the moratorium on building on the Costa Brava during the processing of the Master Plan and in the pandemic.
The health crisis has also translated into one 23.63% decrease in housing contracted by foreigners. The College’s forecast is to close 2021 with 6.4% fewer finished homes and that the “relaunch” in construction will not arrive until 2023.
The statistics compiled by the Association of Surveyors, Technical Architects and Building Engineers of Girona include, since 1987, data on finished homes (both new construction and renovations) and the contracts that are ‘have done every year for future works.
The study reflects a decline in hiring throughout 2020, both for new construction and rehabilitation. According to the president of the College, Miquel Vendrell, this brake when it comes to promoting projects it will result in a decline in finished housing which are expected to last this year and probably also in 2022. “Until 2023 there will be no relaunch of everything,” said Vendrell.
According to the data, the decline is more pronounced in the hiring of rehabilitations. From one year to the next they have gone from 1,562 homes to 1,028, 34.18% less. In relation to new construction, the decrease is 30.38%, from 1,188 in 2019 to 827 contracted homes in 2020.
Appraisers attribute the declines to two factors. On the one hand, in the moratorium on construction on the Costa Brava during the processing of the Master Plan. According to Vendrell, this has caused “uncertainty” between individuals and developers, who have left projects in the drawer waiting to have the new urban planning ready. Now, the College expects them to unravel, although some projects will have to be modified to adapt them to the regulations and this may delay deadlines.
The other factor is, how could it be otherwise, the pandemic. The study shows that mobility restrictions have fallen by 23.63% (181 less) housing contracted by foreign customers, especially from Eastern European countries. And the study also shows that, in addition to the decline in hiring, some have chosen to give up or give up housing construction.
In addition, Vendrell also points out that the economic crisis arising from covid-19 also causes one slowdown in construction, renovation and acquisition of housing. But the pandemic has also meant a change in the market because there has been an increase in the interest of customers in the country in second homes or homes in rural areas. The president warns, however, that the increase in teleworking must be accompanied by an improvement in infrastructure of telecommunications beyond cities.
According to statistics, the populations where there are more foreigners interested in having a home are Roses, Castelló d’Empúries, Begur and Lloret de Mar.
The Association of Surveyors estimates, based on the contracts and projects currently underway, that they will close in 2021 with a 6.4% less finished homes (both new and rehabilitated), with a figure of about 1,900.
The analysis also shells out finished homes during 2020. That is, those projects already completed and delivered to promoters or individuals. Of new construction, 953 have been completed (0.41% more than in 2019) and 756 rehabilitations have been approved (7.38% more than the previous year). A total of 1,709, to which must be added the projects approved from outside the demarcation, which raise the total to 2,030.
Of these projects, 60.1% have been new homes and 39.90% rehabilitation projects. Vendrell maintains that the future of the sector depends on the housing reforms already built, also on a question of “sustainability”.
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