From 22 months to 2 minutes. Los Digital Building Permits

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, MIVAU, has published the “Guide to Recommendations and Good Practices in the field of Urban Planning Licenses in the Residential Area”, a document aimed at public administrations with the aim of simplifying and speeding up the processing of urban planning licenses linked to new construction and residential rehabilitation. The initiative is part of the commitments of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, Prtr, and offers practical guidance, together with real examples, to reduce deadlines, strengthen transparency and improve inter-administrative collaboration, without undermining the legal and technical control of actions. The Guide proposes a comprehensive approach to the licensing or authorisation procedure, addressing key stages such as the identification of the procedure modality, the submission of applications, administrative management, legality control, quality commitments and the involvement of agents and professionals. Among the measures highlighted are the digitization of files, the standardization of criteria and the strengthening of cooperation mechanisms between administrations. In total, the document includes 20 key recommendations and case studies developed by autonomous communities and local entities, which show how organisational innovation and institutional cooperation can significantly reduce processing times, while ensuring maximum transparency of procedures. The preparation of the Guide has had contributions from the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, Femp, the Higher Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain, Cscae, as well as from different autonomous communities and local entities. The Mivau conceives it as an open initiative, capable of incorporating new contributions to advance in the optimization of urban planning procedures, considered key to boost the supply of housing and facilitate access in affordable conditions. Among the areas addressed, the Guide includes: Regulatory measures aimed at simplifying and speeding up the granting of urban planning licences and authorisations in the residential area. Organisational measures and systematisation of processes to shorten processing times and favour short-term supply. Lines of inter-administrative collaboration and with public and private entities to optimize licensing procedures. In addition, it incorporates a specific analysis of 30 Spanish municipalities, located in different locations, which includes the applicable regulatory framework, the delimitation between license, responsible declaration and prior communication, as well as practical content on the submission of applications, with links to information and procedures.