Menda has approved the ordinance for appraised housing with limited prices and incomes

The Mendata City Council has approved the ordinance establishing the regime for Municipal Rated Housing (VTM) in the municipality. The regulation was published in the Boletín Oficial de Bizkaia official gazette, issue number 180, on September 21, 2026, in section II (Local Administration of the Historical Territory of Bizkaia), with the official reference BOB-2026a180-(II-4907). The ordinance was signed in Mendata on September 16, 2026, by Mayor Joseba Mallea Lamikize, and the final approval and text will enter into force the day after its publication in the official gazette.

Basis and Scope of the Regulation

The ordinance establishes the VTM figure in the development of Law 2/2006, of June 30, on Land and Urbanism of the Basque Country, and specifies the public protection regime provided for in that territorial legislation for the municipality. The scope extends to urban planning plans previously processed or approved, provided they included reserves for Rated Housing.

For all matters not regulated by this rule, the current autonomous community legislation regarding public protection housing will apply.

Two Regimes: VTMG and VTME

The ordinance distinguishes between two classes:

• Municipal Rated Housing of General Regime (VTMG): The Council has the freedom to establish the price parameters and the maximum and minimum income of the beneficiaries for this regime.
• Municipal Rated Housing of Special Regime (VTME): These may replace official protection rated housing to meet the minimum standards established by Law 2/2006.

In both cases, the Mendata City Council retains the power to specify the minimum and maximum incomes of applicants in each call, establishing the conditions for the lottery.

Prices and Income Limits

For rentals, the annual rent for VTMG housing will be a maximum of 2.5% of the maximum sale price. The applicant or cohabitation unit must verify that the annual income from the last fiscal year does not exceed 80,000 euros; no minimum income is established. For the calculation, the Decree 39/2008 of March 4, 2008 regulation will be applied.

The qualification of the housing will be carried out by the City Council, and the qualification document will fix the maximum sale price of each dwelling and its associated garage and storage room, as well as the number of dwellings aimed at large families and people with disabilities.

Beneficiary Requirements

To be an awardee of a rated dwelling, the applicant must meet the following conditions:

• Be of legal age or emancipated.
• Have a housing need.
• Meet the maximum income limit.
• Be registered (empadronado) in the Basque Autonomous Community.

To verify the need for housing, all members of the cohabitation unit must not have owned a home in ownership, full ownership, right of superficies, or usufruct during the two years prior to the formalization of the application. Exceptions are granted, among others, when another home has been destroyed or ordered to be demolished, when it is part of a divestment file, when it does not meet the minimum habitability conditions (Decreto 317/2022), or when a member of the cohabitation unit has a disability with reduced mobility.

Adjudication and control

The adjudication procedure may be carried out by the City Council itself or, through an agreement, entrusted to the Gobierno Vasco or to the promoters or cooperatives that will build the housing. The procedure will be carried out through a public call, with the bases published in the Boletín Oficial de Bizkaia magazine, and a registry of interested parties will be established to raffle the homes among those who meet the conditions. The assigned homes must be the habitual and permanent residence, and they may under no circumstances be leased to others, left vacant, or used as a second residence.

After signing the deeds or the rental contract, the move into the home and registration (empadronamiento) must be carried out within a period of two months. In case of delay, the City Council or, subsidiarily, the Gobierno Vasco may exercise the right of first refusal and repurchase, and a penalty of 30% of the deed value of the home and its annexes will be imposed for each month of delay.

Impact in the municipality

Homes qualified as assigned housing will have the permanent qualification of protected public housing, and will be permanently linked to the maximum allocation price established by the ordinances. The right of first refusal and repurchase will be in favor of the City Council and/or the acting Administration first, and, subsidiarily, in favor of the General Administration of the autonomous community. Owners must notify the administrations of their intention to sell, and they may exercise the right of first refusal within a period of two months.

This ordinance is the new regulation governing the offer of protected housing in the municipality, and provides the housing policy of Mendata with its own legal tool, placing the control of prices and the income of beneficiaries in the hands of the municipality.

Fuente: Boletín Oficial de Bizkaia, núm. 180, 21 de septiembre de 2026, Sección II, orr. 1-6 (erreferentzia ofiziala: BOB-2026a180-(II-4907)).