Lluís Oliva, president of the Ibiza and Formentera branch of the College of Architects, and Consuelo Antúnez, president of the Pitiusas Construction and Derivatives Association of Pimeef, agree that the type of housing construction growing most rapidly in Ibiza is single-family homes. They also highlight a high level of activity in renovations and refurbishments.
“Single-family housing is what’s booming, but this trend isn’t new. There’s some hope for multi-family projects, especially the pending subsidised housing (VPO) developments, such as those in Ca n’Escandell, or the price-capped homes (VPL) in Santa Eulària”, says Oliva. “They’ll move forward a bit, but since the property boom ended in 2007–2008, single-family homes have been the most common type of construction in Ibiza”.
Antúnez adds that “renovations are the main source of activity in the sector. There’s very little available land, and obtaining permits and licences for new builds takes a long time, so for years now many owners have opted to improve what they already have, or to buy houses that are 20 or 30 years old and renovate them”.
Social housing construction
The Pimeef representative explains that “a lot of high-end housing is still being built because, given land and property prices, only people with significant resources can afford it. Right now, developing multi-family housing for the middle class is extremely difficult. Profit margins are minimal and the timeframes are very long. Unless land prices drop and bureaucratic procedures are streamlined, it’s hard to see this situation changing”.
In this regard, she calls for “the release of land for VPO or other forms of protected or price-capped housing, as well as greater promotion of public–private partnerships”.
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