Toledo has had an idea to reinforce the meager housing supply in its historic center. In the city there is the curious contradiction that there is demand for flats for rent while around 150 buildings of the monumental area (both public and private) remain closed and without tenants, so… Why not solve both problems at once? With that philosophy as a backdrop, two convents in Toledo are preparing to become landlords and allocate part of their buildings to rent.
The historic center sees its housing offer expand (although still timidly) and in the process the religious orders obtain a new source of income. Quite a ‘win-win’.
What has happened? That in Toledo they want to kill several birds with one stone. For some time now, its historic center has faced three challenges that, although at first glance they seem to have little to do with each other, are directly related. The first is the shortage of residential rentals. In Idealista, just over a few are announced right now. 50 apartments for lease and many of them do so as seasonal rentals. For long stays the offer is only 33.
The second challenge is represented by abandoned buildings. Last year, the Consortium of the City of Toledo did the math and found that in that same area of the Castilian-La Mancha capital, 150 buildings unused, some in ruins. The third challenge is not so much the city itself but the religious orders that live there: How to achieve income in the 21st century? Where to get money to pay bills or unforeseen events such as repairing the roof of the Discalced Carmelites convent, sunk during a DANA in 2023?
Connecting the dots. The Toledo Consortium has come to the conclusion that these three challenges can be connected and has had an idea: to renovate wasted spaces in convents in the city to convert them into homes. And not just any type of housing. Their objective is to move them to the long-term rental market, the one that has the most difficulties in the historic center and more pressured It is seen through tourism.
For that purpose, in November The organization gave the green light to the tender for the renovation of two properties: one located in the convent of the Discalced Carmelites and the other in the Immaculate Conception (Nasturtiums). Between them there will be four homes.
“New opportunities”. The objective, explains the manager of the Consortium, Jesús Corroto, is to advance in the recovery of the disused heritage of the historic center and in the process generate “new residential opportunities”, especially for young people. The idea is to rehabilitate a building attached to the Discalced Carmelites convent with 131,000 euros to provide it with two new homes with a total constructed area of 130 m2. Investments will be made in the Capuchinas property. 130,000 euros to open two new residences in what was once the Priestly House, built at the end of the 16th century.
In any case, the organization wants to go further and not stay in those four apartments. The SER chain indicates that it aspires to enable at least a dozen of housing and has already transferred more proposals to other convents. Whether they go ahead or not will basically depend on the budget and what the religious decide. After all, the buildings are private, non-segregable and considered BIC. The initiative would allow the creation between 20 and 30 housesto which other services can be added, such as parking.
“Rental ethics”. In the case of the new homes set up in convents, a peculiar circumstance will occur: the Consortium is in charge of the works, but unlike what happens with other accommodation promoted by the Municipal Housing Company, its price will not be limited by a maximum limit. Since these are private properties, it is the religious who must decide what rents they charge to their future tenants, although Corroto already advances in The Country that a “rental ethic” will govern.
What the organization he directs has done is put an inflexible condition on the friars and monks of Toledo: the new homes must be dedicated to residential rentals, not become tourist apartments, a business that has already attracted other religious of Spain who have seen the need to take advantage of their buildings. In Seville, for example, not long ago some cloistered nuns agreed to offer a part of their convent to tourists through Airbnb. The reason: selling candy is no longer enough to pay bills.
Between 37 and 60 m2. In the case of Toledo, the objective is for the new homes to be available in about a year. To make it possible, the religious orders will assume part of the works and furniture. Once the project is completed, the city will have new apartments with a useful area of between 37 and 60 m2. The residences will have to comply with the regulations that govern the Historic Center of Toledo and will have between one and two rooms.
Images | Suraya_M (Flickr) and Wikipedia (Antonio Velez)
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