Overview

• Valencia City Council announced on May 26 that it will pay €9 million to acquire a 134-unit social housing block in La Torre, blocking a planned sale to Ktesios Real Estate Socimi.
• The building includes 76 parking spaces and 60 storage rooms, and its acquisition price of around €67 000 per unit is well below Valencia’s free-market rates.
• The council will assume existing contracts for pensioners, low-income families and other vulnerable tenants and guarantee their leases until they expire.
• Protected by a 2004 public housing law, the purchase will proceed even if the regional government votes to repeal the expanded 2020 pre-emption decree this week.
• Local opposition and tenant groups have applauded the move but urged wider use of pre-emption rights in future housing acquisitions.