Sopelana and Urduliz have been declared by the Basque Government as tense areas of the residential market

The Housing and Urban Agenda Department of the Basque Government has declared Sopelana and Urduliz a tense area of the residential market, a designation approved by two orders signed this Friday by the Housing and Urban Agenda Advisor, Denis Itxaso.

On 8 January and 9 February respectively, the two municipalities requested the Basque Government to order the declaration of the municipalities as tense areas of the residential market.

The Official Gazette of the Basque Country published both orders on Friday, although the appointment will not officially enter into force until it is published in the Official Gazetteof the State.

Measures to facilitate access to housing

The declaration of a tense residential market area is a measure provided for in the Right to Housing Act and makes it possible to implement specific instruments to facilitate access to housing in municipalities.

The designation enables the application of the measures provided for in the legislation in force to promote a more accessible rental market, in the cases and under the conditions laid down in State regulations.

The initial term of the appointment shall be three years , renewable if the circumstances giving rise to it persist.

Twenty municipalities are already tense areas.

With the addition of Sopelana and Urduliz, 20 municipalities have already been declared as tense areas of the residential market in the Basque Country.

In Bizkaia, there are a total of six municipalities with this designation: Sopelana and Urduliz, Basauri, Bilbao, Barakaldo and Galdakao.

On the other hand, the files relating to the municipalities of Gorliz, Bermeo, Lekeitio and Elorrio (Bizkaia) and Bergara, Deba, Oiartzun, Oñati, Orio and Hondarribia (Gipuzkoa) continue to be processed.