Second Vice-President and Minister of Housing and Bioclimatic Architecture, Héctor Illueca met with Elena Cebrián, regional secretary for Regional Cohesion and Policies Against Depopulation, and Jeanette Segarra, executive director of the Valencia Anti-Depopulation Agenda (Avant). The purpose was to communicate the housing policies the Consell is developing to support the Generalitat’s Valencian Depopulation Prevention Strategic Plan. Among these policies, notable measures include an assistance program for young buyers in small municipalities and the Recuperem Llars program, which focuses on rehabilitating municipal housing for social leasing. Illueca announced that during this legislature approximately 3.5 million euros were allocated to help young people purchase homes in rural municipalities with populations under 5,000 or in small population centers within villages and counties that are at risk of depopulation, aiming to promote access to property ownership.
There was also a 2022 budget increase of 500 thousand euros, bringing the total to 1.5 million compared with the previous year. These grants cover up to 20 percent of the purchase price of a home, with a maximum of 10,800 euros, provided the purchase price does not exceed 100,000 euros.
The vice-president stressed that it is essential for inland municipalities to have an urban and built environment that meets contemporary needs to reverse depopulation. In this vein, the Second Vice Presidency makes available resources to municipalities that expand public parks, including the new Recuperem Llars call. He highlighted that the budget for Recuperem Llars has risen from 1.4 million euros to 6.5 million euros, signaling a substantial expansion in both acquisition and rehabilitation of housing.
Neighborhood Law
In addition to these programs, the Ministry of Housing and Bioclimatic Architecture advances other efforts to combat population decline. These include the preliminary draft of the Barrios Law under preparation, rent assistance for youths in small municipalities totaling 850,000 euros, a commitment to expand the mass housing stock, and the strengthening of Xarxa Xaloc offices to deliver comprehensive services in housing management, building rehabilitation, and urban regeneration.
There are also interdisciplinary initiatives such as the Sustainable Architecture and Innovation chairs in Housing and Circular Architecture and the New Green Transition Intercollegiate Chair, which include specific study areas on depopulation and housing. Illueca underscored the significance of these actions across the 542 municipalities in the Community of Valencia, noting that about 215 municipalities have populations under 1,000, representing roughly 40 percent of the province’s municipalities at risk of depopulation. He also pointed out that the poor condition of many rural homes contributes to a lack of buyers or tenants and a limited willingness among homeowners to invest in improvements, given low profitability expectations.
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Public administration intervention is deemed essential for addressing depopulation to achieve the goals of Agenda 20-30. Through these initiatives, Illueca concluded, direct impact has been made on revitalizing small towns while mitigating one of the most pressing citizen concerns today—housing. The Regional Secretary echoed the sentiment, noting that access to housing remains among the top worries in the fight against depopulation. He thanked the Ministry of Housing and Bioclimatic Architecture for its cooperation with the regional secretariat for Regional Cohesion and for developing a joint policy with Avant to tackle this challenge, with guidelines on housing for these regions and policies that will be included in the Comprehensive Anti-Depopulation Law currently in development.
Source attribution: Consell reports indicate that the depopulation challenge in Valencia’s rural areas is being tackled through a mix of purchase grants, rehabilitation incentives, and expanded public housing programs. This coordinated approach aims to make living in inland communities more viable and attractive for families and young adults alike, with ongoing monitoring to adjust funding and policy direction as conditions evolve. (Source: Consell documentation and regional briefings).