The presentation of the last Euroconstruct report in Madrid ended with a question time which pointed out some issues of concern of the construction sector and the construction materials market. According to the report, new housing construction remains as the main source of growth both in Europe and also in Spain. But the kind of boost that is expected from the residential market will not last indefinitely, and most countries agree that housing production will relax again in the medium term.

This message did not go unnoticed among the attendees, who discussed which market will take up the baton. The most likely candidate is building renovation, which in Europe has already proved its anti-cyclical behaviour, providing a reliable source of stability when new building slows down. But stability comes at a price, and the price is a smaller pace of growth.

For Spain it would be desirable to count on the stabilizing effects of a solid, mature renovation market, but the country is still far below the European averages. The debate in Madrid was useful to identify some of the factors that make it difficult for Spanish renovation to achieve its full potential: the structure of property, the structure of energy costs or the aftermath of the crisis still felt on family budgets. There are also complains about how the public support for renovation is not effective enough: it is not only a matter of increasing the budget, it is mostly a matter of being more attentive to the real needs of the applicants.

Antonio Aguilar, General Director of Architecture of the Ministry of Public Works took good note of all these concerns and closed the presentation reminding that the government will soon publish the new State Housing Plan 2018-2021, with plenty of hope that it will contribute to keep the renovation market in its consolidation track.