The Balearic Government takes another step in its strategy to expand its social housing stock with the construction of a 25-unit social housing project in Ibiza, primarily for civil servants stationed on the island. The initiative, developed by the Balearic Institute of Housing (IBAVI) in collaboration with the Ibiza Council, aims to address the housing access difficulties faced by professionals responsible for providing essential public services on the island. This is a recurring problem throughout the archipelago.
The project will be built on a plot of land at 9 s’Hort de sa Fruita Street, in the municipality of Ibiza, which the Island Council has made available to IBAVI free of charge under a specific collaboration agreement. The project has a budget of 5.1 million euros, excluding VAT, and is part of the ‘Illes en Transformació’ infrastructure investment plan, promoted by the regional government.
The project presentation was attended by the regional Minister of Housing, Land Planning, and Mobility, José Luis Mateo; the president of the Council of Ibiza, Vicenç Marí; the mayor of Ibiza, Rafael Triguero; and the director of the IBAVI, Roberto Cayuela, who on Tuesday highlighted the importance of institutional collaboration as a means to accelerate the creation of social housing on one of the islands that suffers the greatest pressure on the real estate market in the country.
The new development will consist of 25 social housing units available for affordable rent. Of these, 15 will be one-bedroom apartments with a double bedroom, and 10 will be two-bedroom apartments, also with double bedrooms. In addition, two of the apartments will be adapted for people with disabilities. The usable areas will range from 47.58 to 64.90 square meters. The project also includes the creation of 25 surface parking spaces, two of which will be accessible for people with reduced mobility.
The building will have a total area of 1,952.37 square meters and will include a ground floor and five upper floors. The ground floor will house the entrances, vertical circulation cores, technical rooms, and parking, while the floors will begin on the first level.
From an architectural perspective, the design aims to create a functional and energy-efficient building, adapted to the site’s characteristics and conceived in accordance with the criteria of structural optimization, cross-ventilation, and reducing energy demand. All housing units will have private balconies connected to the living areas, designed as both outdoor spaces for daily use and as shading elements to improve the building’s thermal performance.
The development will also benefit from the fast-track procedure approved by the regional government to expedite the implementation of social housing projects. Thanks to this mechanism, housing developments promoted by IBAVI can be declared of regional interest and benefit from an accelerated approval process – a procedure that until now had been reserved for strategic infrastructure such as schools or health centers.
This initiative is part of the regional government’s emergency plan to increase the supply of affordable housing in the Balearic Islands, one of the government’s main priorities in the face of growing pressure on the housing market. Alongside other developments and programs already underway, the roadmap provides for the planning of more than 1,000 affordable homes on the island of Ibiza for residents, a figure that regional minister José Luis Mateo highlighted during the project’s presentation as one of the legislative period’s strategic objectives.
