VPP y Libres

English translation: Other VPP (publicly subsidised housing) and free-market housing

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:VPP y Libres
English translation:Other VPP (publicly subsidised housing) and free-market housing
Entered by: Charles Davis

23:20 May 1, 2019
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Real Estate
Spanish term or phrase: VPP y Libres
This is speaking about the things needed to be taken into account when purchasing property in Mallorca. The "VPP" part is equity value, but I'm not sure the "y Libres" part of this one. Anybody have an idea? This is to determine the tax rates that are applied to the purchase. VPO stands for "State Subsidized Housing" (referring to that tax rate if the property falls under that category). See context below...

Context:

GUÍA BÁSICA DE LA COMPRAVENTA DE UN INMUEBLE EN MALLORCA

Aspectos fiscales.
A. Adquisición del inmueble
SI SUJETA A:
(I) IVA (IMPUESTO SOBRE EL VALOR AÑADIDO)
(II) ITP (IMPUESTO SOBRE TRANSMISIONES PATRIMONIALES).

I. IVA (Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido):
Es el impuesto que se devenga en la compraventa de inmuebles con carácter residencial que se transmiten por primera vez.

El tipo de IVA VPO > 4%
VPP y Libres > 10%
Locales comerciales y otros > 21%

Junto con el IVA, la operación será gravada con AJD (Actos Jurídicos Documentados).
Donovan Libring
Local time: 16:05
Other VPP (publicly subsidised housing) and free-market housing
Explanation:
(Obviously "subsidized" if you want American spelling.) This is complicated and I'm afraid it needs a lengthy explanation.

The "Libres" part is relatively straightforward: "vivienda libre" (or "de renta libre") simply means (as Andy has indicated) standard private-sector housing, bought and sold freely on the property market and not publicly regulated:

"La vivienda de renta libre es la tipología ‘al uso’, la que es promovida por una empresa privada y cuyo precio dependerá de las fluctuaciones del mercado; no está sujeta a los precios estipulados por las autoridades públicas."
https://www.vivirentotana.com/2011/06/06/diferencias-entre-v...

I think there are various terms you could use for it. "Free-market housing" seems to me a clear and accurate option, used here in a UK House of Lords debate, for example:

"those dependent on social housing have suffered. This occurs because the profit margin on free-market housing estates has fallen, allowing less for the social sector"
https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2019-01-31/debates/AE803...

Or here in the NY Times:

"Overall figures on free-market housing supply are hard to come by"
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/24/realestate/the-free-marke...

_______________________

But VPP is tricky and has to be taken with VPO. The social housing area in Spain is a minefield, with a host of acronyms and several changes of legislation. First of all, "VPP" does not refer to equity value. As Helena has said, it sometimes stands for "Vivienda de Promoción Pública": publicly developed housing, that is, public or social housing developed (built) by a public or state agency. That type of housing is relevant here, as we'll see, but it's not what VPP refers to. In this context, IVA/VAT rates on housing, it stands for "Vivienda de Protección Pública". I'll back that up in a moment.

Well, "VPO" stands for "Vivienda de Protección Oficial". So what's the difference? This is where it gets really tricky, because "protección oficial" and "protección pública" mean the same thing. It's simply that VPO is the older term and VPP is more recent:

"Las viviendas llamadas VPO son Viviendas de Protección Oficial (hoy llamadas VPP, Vivienda de Protección Pública)"
https://www.vivirentotana.com/2011/06/06/diferencias-entre-v...

"La Vivienda de Protección Oficial (VPO, también conocida como Vivienda con Protección Pública o Vivienda Protegida)"
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienda_de_protección_oficial

So if they're the same thing, how come VPO carries 4% IVA and VPP carries 10%? The answer is that in this specific context VPO actually refers to just two specific types of social housing, and VPP refers to all other types.

If we look at the IVA regulations on housing, to which Phil has alluded through a secondary source, this is what they say:

"Los tipos impositivos establecidos actualmente son:
> 10% con carácter general.
> 4% cuando se trate de viviendas de protección oficial de régimen especial o de promoción pública."
https://www.agenciatributaria.es/AEAT.internet/Inicio/_Segme...

Note the second item: it only includes two specific types of VPO. "Con carácter general" means every other kind of housing apart from these.

This is clarified by this following very useful source (from Madrid):

"IMPUESTOS POR LA COMPRA DE VIVIENDA NUEVA
Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido (IVA)
Tipología de Vivienda...........................................IVA
- Viviendas con Protección Pública (VPP)
y Vivienda libre..............................................10% del importe escriturado
- Viviendas de Protección Oficial de
Régimen Especial
(VPO RE)
- Viviendas de Protección Oficial de
Promoción Pública
...........................................4% del importe escriturado"
http://www.comunidad.madrid/sites/default/files/doc/vivienda...

As a general term for Vivienda de Protección Oficial/Pública (VPO/VPP), I would suggest "publicly subsidised housing". I would be inclined to avoid "state-subsidised", because it is often the autonomous community rather than the state. "Subsidised" is standard, as in this glossary:

"VPO (vivienda de protección oficial) - subsidized housing, social housing"
https://www.affidata.co.uk/sh/property-for-sale/spanish-real...

And it's accurate, because the national or regional government does subsidise the developer to keep the price down; details here:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienda_de_protección_oficial...

People do use the literal translation "protected housing"; the following is from a reputable international law firm (and it's a useful explanation):
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=80e828a5-768b...

I think "protected" would be OK, though in the UK the term "protected housing" can refer to accommodation with support facilities for the elderly.

_____________________

So "VPO", for IVA purposes, refers exclusively to two types, which we might call "Special-Regime Publicly-Subsidised Housing" and "Publicly-Developed Housing". For "VPO" in your text I would put "VPO" and add these two terms, or whatever variants you think appropriate, after it. "Special Regime" (RE: Régimen Especial) means that the purchaser's income is in the lowest income bracket. For details see the Wikipedia page cited. On "promoción pública, see this other section in Wikipedia:

"En ocasiones, el promotor es la misma Administración pública. En este caso, se habla de VPO de promoción pública."
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienda_de_protección_oficial...

Also here (note the confusing alternative meaning of VPP, to which I referred at the beginning):

"La Vivienda de Promoción Pública (VPP) es aquella en la que la compra del suelo, la financiación y la construcción son gestionadas por un ente público."
https://www.jubilacionypension.com/derechos-obligaciones/doc...
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 16:05
Grading comment
Thank you very much for the thorough explanation and references. That really helps and will surely help others in the future who can reference this post!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1Publicly sponsored and (Open-Market) unsubsidised housing > percentage levy
Adrian MM.
4 +1Other VPP (publicly subsidised housing) and free-market housing
Charles Davis
Summary of reference entries provided
VPP
Helena Chavarria
paso de vivienda protegida a vivienda libre (descalificada / desprotegida)
andres-larsen

  

Answers


8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
VPP (Viviendas de Promoción Pública) y Libres
Publicly sponsored and (Open-Market) unsubsidised housing > percentage levy


Explanation:
To start the answers ball rolling....

Not Valor Patrimonial Proporcional, as ine the second web ref., as the equity element would - both in England & Wales and the US/Can., throw up an 'Equity of Redemption' of a mortgage (Scots: standard security) scenario.

Having lived in Madrid in an area with old-era viviendas de protección pública, I find it somehwat surprising and incongruous that there could be such on (rather than in, unless underground like Cuevas de Drach) Majorca.


Example sentence(s):
  • La Vivienda de Promoción Pública (VPP) es aquella en la que la compra del suelo, la financiación y la construcción son gestionadas por un ente público. Su principal característica es su reducido precio...

    Reference: http://www.jubilacionypension.com/derechos-obligaciones/docu...
    Reference: http://eng.proz.com/kudoz/spanish-to-english/law-taxation-cu...
Adrian MM.
Austria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 50

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard: I'm not sure what you mean by "percentage levy" (it's VAT), and Charles' answer is a lot more detailed, but you deserve credit for being first.
4 hrs
  -> Thanks. The 'percentage levy' was supposed to explain the rate of VAT - that, as such, is a 'questionable' tax to levy in the circumstances.
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Other VPP (publicly subsidised housing) and free-market housing


Explanation:
(Obviously "subsidized" if you want American spelling.) This is complicated and I'm afraid it needs a lengthy explanation.

The "Libres" part is relatively straightforward: "vivienda libre" (or "de renta libre") simply means (as Andy has indicated) standard private-sector housing, bought and sold freely on the property market and not publicly regulated:

"La vivienda de renta libre es la tipología ‘al uso’, la que es promovida por una empresa privada y cuyo precio dependerá de las fluctuaciones del mercado; no está sujeta a los precios estipulados por las autoridades públicas."
https://www.vivirentotana.com/2011/06/06/diferencias-entre-v...

I think there are various terms you could use for it. "Free-market housing" seems to me a clear and accurate option, used here in a UK House of Lords debate, for example:

"those dependent on social housing have suffered. This occurs because the profit margin on free-market housing estates has fallen, allowing less for the social sector"
https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2019-01-31/debates/AE803...

Or here in the NY Times:

"Overall figures on free-market housing supply are hard to come by"
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/24/realestate/the-free-marke...

_______________________

But VPP is tricky and has to be taken with VPO. The social housing area in Spain is a minefield, with a host of acronyms and several changes of legislation. First of all, "VPP" does not refer to equity value. As Helena has said, it sometimes stands for "Vivienda de Promoción Pública": publicly developed housing, that is, public or social housing developed (built) by a public or state agency. That type of housing is relevant here, as we'll see, but it's not what VPP refers to. In this context, IVA/VAT rates on housing, it stands for "Vivienda de Protección Pública". I'll back that up in a moment.

Well, "VPO" stands for "Vivienda de Protección Oficial". So what's the difference? This is where it gets really tricky, because "protección oficial" and "protección pública" mean the same thing. It's simply that VPO is the older term and VPP is more recent:

"Las viviendas llamadas VPO son Viviendas de Protección Oficial (hoy llamadas VPP, Vivienda de Protección Pública)"
https://www.vivirentotana.com/2011/06/06/diferencias-entre-v...

"La Vivienda de Protección Oficial (VPO, también conocida como Vivienda con Protección Pública o Vivienda Protegida)"
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienda_de_protección_oficial

So if they're the same thing, how come VPO carries 4% IVA and VPP carries 10%? The answer is that in this specific context VPO actually refers to just two specific types of social housing, and VPP refers to all other types.

If we look at the IVA regulations on housing, to which Phil has alluded through a secondary source, this is what they say:

"Los tipos impositivos establecidos actualmente son:
> 10% con carácter general.
> 4% cuando se trate de viviendas de protección oficial de régimen especial o de promoción pública."
https://www.agenciatributaria.es/AEAT.internet/Inicio/_Segme...

Note the second item: it only includes two specific types of VPO. "Con carácter general" means every other kind of housing apart from these.

This is clarified by this following very useful source (from Madrid):

"IMPUESTOS POR LA COMPRA DE VIVIENDA NUEVA
Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido (IVA)
Tipología de Vivienda...........................................IVA
- Viviendas con Protección Pública (VPP)
y Vivienda libre..............................................10% del importe escriturado
- Viviendas de Protección Oficial de
Régimen Especial
(VPO RE)
- Viviendas de Protección Oficial de
Promoción Pública
...........................................4% del importe escriturado"
http://www.comunidad.madrid/sites/default/files/doc/vivienda...

As a general term for Vivienda de Protección Oficial/Pública (VPO/VPP), I would suggest "publicly subsidised housing". I would be inclined to avoid "state-subsidised", because it is often the autonomous community rather than the state. "Subsidised" is standard, as in this glossary:

"VPO (vivienda de protección oficial) - subsidized housing, social housing"
https://www.affidata.co.uk/sh/property-for-sale/spanish-real...

And it's accurate, because the national or regional government does subsidise the developer to keep the price down; details here:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienda_de_protección_oficial...

People do use the literal translation "protected housing"; the following is from a reputable international law firm (and it's a useful explanation):
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=80e828a5-768b...

I think "protected" would be OK, though in the UK the term "protected housing" can refer to accommodation with support facilities for the elderly.

_____________________

So "VPO", for IVA purposes, refers exclusively to two types, which we might call "Special-Regime Publicly-Subsidised Housing" and "Publicly-Developed Housing". For "VPO" in your text I would put "VPO" and add these two terms, or whatever variants you think appropriate, after it. "Special Regime" (RE: Régimen Especial) means that the purchaser's income is in the lowest income bracket. For details see the Wikipedia page cited. On "promoción pública, see this other section in Wikipedia:

"En ocasiones, el promotor es la misma Administración pública. En este caso, se habla de VPO de promoción pública."
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienda_de_protección_oficial...

Also here (note the confusing alternative meaning of VPP, to which I referred at the beginning):

"La Vivienda de Promoción Pública (VPP) es aquella en la que la compra del suelo, la financiación y la construcción son gestionadas por un ente público."
https://www.jubilacionypension.com/derechos-obligaciones/doc...

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 16:05
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 100
Grading comment
Thank you very much for the thorough explanation and references. That really helps and will surely help others in the future who can reference this post!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Adrian MM.: Congrats on keeping any ref. to my answer out of yours! In my 'day', in the UK & at the Madrid bufete de abogados that BTW was a dual-use Vivienda de Protección Oficial, we talked of Rent (now UK Housing) Act protection & lets with *security of tenure*.
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Adrian. I must admit I didn't see your answer until after posting mine; I spent a long time drafting it and didn't think of checking before pressing the button. I prefer to avoid using UK equivalents here; the systems are really quite different.
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Reference comments


11 mins peer agreement (net): +2
Reference: VPP

Reference information:
VPP

La compra del suelo, la financiación y la construcción son gestionados por un ente público en la Vivienda de Promoción Pública (VPP). Su principal característica es su reducido precio, establecido para facilitar a los jóvenes el acceso a la vivienda. Normalmente la entrega de una VPP se realiza mediante un sorteo o un concurso público.

Cada Comunidad Autónoma decide el tipo de vivienda que va a promocionar aunque la más utilizada es la Vivienda con Protección Pública de Precio Limitado (VPPL). Esta modalidad debe cumplir una serie de características: No superar una superficie de 150 metros cuadrados, estar dentro del Precio Máximo Legal de Venta, ser ocupada en un plazo máximo de un año y ser la vivienda habitual del interesado. Además, los ingresos familiares no deben superar siete veces el Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples.

http://seguroreinicia.es/seguro-reinicia/diferencias-entre-v...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2019-05-01 23:36:24 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In the following reference, 'libres' is translated as 'free housing', which I think is a bit misleading!

https://allinallproperty.com/legal/tax/

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 23 mins (2019-05-01 23:43:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I've also seen 'viviendo de protección pública'.

En términos generales, podemos decir que existen dos tipos básicos de viviendas, libres y protegidas. Definirlas y conocer cuáles son sus características nos permitirá tomar la decisión más adecuada. Viviendas libres, características esenciales Las viviendas libres son aquellas que han sido construidas y pertenecen a empresas o particulares que no han recibido ningún tipo de ayuda del sector público, por lo que su precio de venta se rige por la ley de la oferta y la demanda. En el grupo de las viviendas libres, encontramos dos subgrupos: las nuevas y las de segunda mano. Diferencias entre viviendas libres nuevas y de segunda mano.

https://estardondeestes.com/movi/es/tipos-de-viviendas-libre...

'Libres' could be subsidy-free housing.

Helena Chavarria
Spain
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 28

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Andy Watkinson: Or "de mercado libre", i.e. common or garden housing, not subject to subsidies, et al...
2 hrs
  -> I can think of a couple of possible translations but I prefer to keep my opinions to myself! thank you, Andy :-)
agree  philgoddard: Here, "libre" seems to be a synonym for "con carácter general": https://www.carrilloasesores.com/iva-vivienda-local-construc...
3 hrs
  -> I always thought that there were either VPO or 'normal' homes. The former are cheaper but you have to wait a certain number of years before you can sell.
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2 hrs
Reference: paso de vivienda protegida a vivienda libre (descalificada / desprotegida)

Reference information:
7 pasos para descalificar una VPO - pisos Al día - pisos.com
https://www.pisos.com/aldia/7-pasos-para-descalificar-una-vp...
27 jul. 2015 - El paso de una vivienda protegida a libre puede llevarse a cabo a través de dos ... autónoma y se establece entre un periodo de entre 10 y 30 años. ... En lo que respecta a la administración pública concreta a la que hay ..... Alquiler pisos Valencia · Alquiler pisos Palma de Mallorca · Alquiler pisos Málaga.

Relación entre €/m2 de vivienda libre vs VPO - notariado
www.notariado.org › Inicio › Estadísticas principales › Inmuebles
Relación entre €/m2 de vivienda libre vs VPO ... por metro cuadrado de las viviendas de protección oficial respecto a las de régimen libre. ... Baleares (Islas).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2019-05-02 02:11:51 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

protected social housing and unprotected unregulated housing:

Loss of protected properties adds to Pollensa housing problems
https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/.../loss-protected-prop...
2019-04-27 18:53:00 Pollensa By Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter ... Within eighteen years time, Pollensa will have no protected housing, i.e. the social housing ...

Is your country property legal? | Villas & Fincas
https://www.villasfincas.com/2469-country-property-legal.htm...
5 dic. 2013 - An easy way to check how legal your country house is, is to apply for a ... (urban vs rustic and protected vs unprotected) has been approved.

andres-larsen
Venezuela
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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