This is the case with the city council's plan to promote the construction of 1,000 affordable homes to the west of the Soliva area (not far from the Clínico hospital). Exactly two years ago, the local ruling team revealed that it was taking over this development, initially in the hands of developers Edipsa and Myramar, whom it compensated with rights to build homes in the nearby Lagar de Oliveros development.

In this way, the city council exempted them from having to develop an area with a heavy infrastructure burden, including a road valued at eleven million euros.

Two years after that announcement, the 1,000 social housing units have no definite timeline for their construction, while administrative procedures continue in the offices of the city council and the regional government.

The municipal urban planning management board, which met on Monday, approved, with the PSOE and Con Málaga voting against and Vox abstaining, an amendment to the agreement under which the city council acquired this land in exchange for granting Edypsa and Miramar planning rights in Lagar de Oliveros.

This is a formal amendment that enables the city council to properly take possession of the entire 179,027 square metres of the site. However, in order for the social housing to be built, this land must first be developed and the process to make this possible has not yet been completed.

In the middle of last year, the municipal housing authority commissioned a company to draw up the development plans for these plots and oversee the works. Local firm Ingesa Ingeniería y Diseño was commissioned to carry out this work, with a budget of 284,350 euros and a timeframe of 18 months.

However, work cannot begin just yet because Ingesa's development plan must first obtain environmental authorisation from the regional government. The city council reported on Monday that "the document has already been sent to the Andalusian regional government to begin the environmental assessment process".

It is unknown how long it may take for the regional government to give the green light for this housing development, which will double the number of social housing units.

Those 1,000 housing units would be a blessing in the current housing crisis, but the city would have to wait several more years for them.

The city council's intention is to hand over 500 homes to private developers for construction and management and take over the other half at the cost of 106 million euros.

To cover this cost, the city council is applying to the EIB (European Investment Bank) for a loan of 40 million euros. It also plans to secure European, national and regional grants to make up the remainder of the funding.

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