The government of the autonomous community of Aragón (Spain) has completed the allocation of a total of 115 million euros from European Union funds aimed at improving and expanding the regional housing stock. The management of this funding has been structured around two main axes: residential rehabilitation based on energy efficiency criteria and the construction of new housing for social rent.
The General Director of Housing for the Aragonese Executive, María Pía Canals, reported on Wednesday in a press conference that the region has met the requirements set by Brussels on time. She detailed that the regional administration succeeded in reversing an initial low execution situation, increasing from 4.7% of the budget committed in August 2023 to nearly the total amount of funds currently.
Rehabilitation and Energy Efficiency
The largest economic block, allocated over 86 million euros, has focused on residential rehabilitation. Through various regional programs, a total of 7,856 homes have been improved to enhance thermal insulation and reduce energy demand.
The regional government has far exceeded the technical objectives set by the European Union for this chapter. While the community requirement established the achievement of 938 energy-saving certificates, Aragón has registered 2,386. Furthermore, the interventions have resulted in an average reduction of energy consumption in households of over 32%, surpassing the minimum thresholds required by the EU funds.
Investment in rehabilitation has been distributed across three main levels of action: neighborhood-scale interventions (over 17.7 million euros for 754 homes), subsidies for homeowner associations for entire buildings (53.5 million for 3,686 properties), and direct assistance to owners or tenants for individual renovations, such as window or boiler replacements (9.3 million for 3,416 homes).
Boost for Social Rental Housing
The second major block of European funds, allocated nearly 29 million euros, has been earmarked for the construction of energy-efficient public housing to be offered at affordable rental rates.
In this area, the Government of Aragón has formalized 41 agreements that will enable the construction of 712 new homes, surpassing the initial commitment of 503 properties required by Europe. Construction on the first 511 homes is expected to be completed by next August, ensuring the allocation of 100% of the funds assigned to this program.
Finally, regional authorities emphasized that the strict adherence to the milestones set by Brussels has allowed the autonomous community to obtain key extensions from the Ministry of Housing of the central government. These deadline extensions guarantee the legal security of ongoing projects and prevent municipalities and citizens from losing allocated funding due to possible delays or unforeseen issues in the execution of the works.
