Andorra to Buy 200 Apartments with €30M Surplus for Affordable Housing

The Andorran government plans to purchase three buildings containing around 200 apartments to expand the public housing stock, using half of its €60 million surplus from 2025. One of these properties will offer units for sale at below-market prices, while prioritising affordable purchase options overall, Housing Minister Conxita Marsol announced on Diari TV's *Parlem-ne* programme.

The €30 million initiative shifts focus from rental housing—where nearly 500 public flats are under construction and due for allocation by the end of the legislative term—to affordable ownership. The buildings, expected to hit the market next year, must require minimal upgrades such as electrical reforms, window replacements for sustainability, and minor improvements to become habitable within two or three months. The government is preparing a tender for interested owners, targeting ready-to-occupy structures rather than major renovations like hotels.

"We want buildings that, with an electrical upgrade and a few more improvements, are already sorted," Marsol said, confirming awareness of several vacant properties likely to attract bids. Rental options will be considered secondarily.

Alongside this, the government aims to boost rental supply through upcoming legislation or regulations, including tax rebates for developers building for lease, IGI exemptions on construction materials, and allowances for extra storeys in zones waiving underground parking. These measures, needing approval from the comúns, are slated for completion in three months, aligning with a rent liberalisation law effective in June. That law will unfreeze around 7,000 older contracts, permitting 6% increases plus a maximum 2.5% IPC adjustment. Marsol anticipates limited impact, noting many long-term landlords may hold prices steady: "Some have tenants for many years who pay on time, so it suits them fine."

A Sicar system will track contracts to enable complaints over excessive hikes, allowing tenants to compare old and new rents.

In related reforms, Marsol outlined a law to deregister over 3,000 inactive companies—those never filing accounts, hiring staff, or paying corporate tax—after identifying 2,000 such cases and 4,000 undeclared ultimate beneficiaries, with scant responses to 4,000 warning letters. The move aims to clean the business registry and meet European transparency standards, with appeal rights preserved.

Other priorities before 2027 include regulating administrative managers to curb ghost agencies, temporary work firms, and further rental incentives. Marsol, entering the legislature's final stretch, expressed fatigue but resolve to finish key files, hinting at stepping back from frontline politics thereafter.