Court of Auditors demands improvements in public housing in Santander, Torrelavega and Castro Urdiales

Key data

Three municipalities in Cantabria have pending duties in public housing matters. The Joint Commission for Relations with the Court of Auditors approved on 9 June 2026 a resolution that compiles the conclusions of the audit of housing promotion and management policies in Santander, Torrelavega and Castro Urdiales during fiscal years 2022 and 2023. The result: a catalogue of deficiencies and a clear mandate for correction for each administration.

The resolution, published in the BOE on 6 October 2026, is not a generic warning. Each municipality receives specific instructions and the Government of Cantabria is also called upon to improve coordination with the municipalities.

What does this regulation establish?

The resolution articulates a set of mandates differentiated by municipality, plus obligations common to all three. Below is the complete detail of what is required of each administration:

Zero-Based Budgeting is a budgeting methodology that requires justifying each spending item from scratch in each fiscal year, without taking historical spending for granted. Its adoption implies a profound change in the way these municipalities plan and approve their housing budgets.

The requirement to comply with the Transparency Law for Torrelavega is especially relevant: it means publishing in an accessible manner the inventory of municipal properties, something that according to the audit report was not being done adequately.

Economic and operational impact

Although the resolution does not set specific monetary amounts, the obligations imposed have a direct operational and budgetary impact for the affected administrations:

• Review of public land assets: the three municipalities must audit their available land to identify which can be allocated to protected housing. This requires internal or external technical and legal resources.
• Regularization of illegal occupations: Santander and Torrelavega must initiate administrative procedures to regularize or recover municipal housing occupied without legal title, which may involve legal proceedings and associated costs.
• Rehabilitation of deteriorated housing: the obligation to rehabilitate the deteriorated stock represents direct investment in works, the amount of which will depend on the actual condition of the municipal stock in each case.
• Implementation of Zero-Based Budgeting: requires training of technical staff, review of internal processes and possibly specialized external assistance.
• Publication of inventories (Torrelavega): involves cataloguing work, digitization and publication on the municipal transparency portal.

The coordination required of the Government of Cantabria with the three municipalities can translate into new collaboration agreements, resource transfers or joint protected housing programs.

Who does it affect?

• Municipality of Santander: required to regularize housing with illegal occupation, rehabilitate deteriorated housing and adopt Zero-Based Budgeting.
• Municipality of Torrelavega: the municipality with the greatest number of obligations: its own housing policies, transparency, regularization of occupations, rehabilitation and Zero-Based Budgeting.
• Municipality of Castro Urdiales: must expand its protected housing stock and update the inventory of assets.
• Government of Cantabria: called upon to improve coordination with the three municipalities on housing matters.
• Citizens on waiting lists for protected housing in these municipalities: the resolution seeks to expand the available supply.
• Construction companies and developers operating in the protected housing market in Cantabria: the review of public land may generate new tenders.

Practical example

Imagine that the Municipality of Torrelavega has 40 housing units in its municipal stock, of which 8 are occupied without legal title and 5 show significant structural deterioration. According to the Court of Auditors resolution, the municipality must:

1. Initiate administrative proceedings to regularize or recover the 8 housing units with illegal occupation, which may include administrative eviction procedures or contractual regularization depending on each case.
2. Plan and budget the rehabilitation of the 5 deteriorated housing units, justifying each spending item under Zero-Based Budgeting methodology.
3. Publish on its transparency portal the complete inventory of the 40 properties, with their condition, occupation and purpose, thus complying with the Transparency Law.
4. Design and approve a municipal housing policy of its own, something that according to the audit report did not exist until now.

This scenario illustrates the real administrative and budgetary burden that the resolution imposes on a medium-sized municipality like Torrelavega.

What should administrations do now?

1. Review the inventory of municipal real estate: the three municipalities must have an updated and complete record of their assets. Castro Urdiales has this explicit obligation; the other two must also guarantee it as a basis for other actions.
2. Identify housing with irregular occupation: Santander and Torrelavega must locate and document each case of occupation without legal title to initiate appropriate proceedings.
3. Plan rehabilitation of the deteriorated stock: Santander and Torrelavega must develop a rehabilitation plan with priorities, timelines and allocated budget.
4. Adopt Zero-Based Budgeting: the three municipalities must begin the methodological transition in their next budget cycles, training staff and reviewing internal processes.
5. Review public land assets: identify which municipal land can be classified or allocated to protected housing, in coordination with current urban planning.
6. Torrelavega: publish information on the transparency portal about municipal properties, complying with the requirements of the Transparency Law.
7. Castro Urdiales: design a plan to increase protected housing with quantifiable objectives and defined timelines.
8. Coordinate with the Government of Cantabria: the three municipalities must establish or strengthen coordination channels with the regional administration to optimize housing interventions.

Official source

Consult complete regulation at official source

Notice: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific decisions, consult a qualified professional. Source: https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-20787