Gilet gets 1,849 m² of free Sareb land on calle Estivella for public housing
Gilet, a municipality in the Camp de Morvedre district, has persuaded Sareb to hand over three urban plots on calle Estivella for free, for future public housing with no flat count or deadline yet.
Gilet has secured land for public housing without having to buy it. Sareb (the state-backed bad bank that holds repossessed property) will transfer three urban plots on calle Estivella to the council free of charge. Together they cover 1,849 square metres in the middle of the town of this Camp de Morvedre municipality.
The mayor, Salva Costa, told El Periódico de Aquí that the matter had been on the table for some time. After negotiating with the entity, the outcome was a transfer with no payment involved. For a small council, not paying for the land removes one of the main obstacles to planning a public housing scheme.
What does not exist yet is the project. Once the three plots join the municipal estate, the council will have to work out how many homes fit on them and choose which development model suits. For now there is no number of homes and no building timetable, so a resident looking for a flat in Gilet has no quota, requirements or deadlines to check.
The local government puts young people at the centre of the initiative. Costa argues that public land should become solutions for families, and that people starting adult life should be able to stay in the town. He also stresses that the plots lie inside the built-up area and that the aim is for the land to return to residents in the form of housing. The council's intention is to expand Gilet's public housing stock and offer affordable residential alternatives.
The transfer fits a legal framework approved almost four years ago. Royal Decree-Law 1/2022 of 18 January requires Sareb to draw up strategies for handing over property to public or non-profit bodies, weighing the social usefulness of each operation. The same rule added the principles of sustainability and social usefulness to its work.
Sareb itself works to a deadline: its liquidation and closure are set for 2027.
The size of the town also matters. Gilet has 4,011 inhabitants according to the 2025 INE census figures, and its recent growth is put down to its closeness to Valencia and good transport links.
According to El Periódico de Aquí, with data from the BOE and from Wikipedia on Sareb and Gilet.