Barcelona City Council, through the Municipal Institute for Housing and Renovation (IMHAB), has signed a right of superficies contract to make possible the construction of a new block of subsidised housing under the general system on the site at Carrer de Bolivia, 25-29, in the Parc i la Llacuna del Poblenou neighbourhood, in the Sant Martí district.
The site is under municipal property and the Cooperativa Llar Jove SCCL will be in charge of the construction and management of said social housing complex. The duration of the surface right will be 99 years, counting from the signing of the contract.
As described in the signed document, the Cooperativa Llar Jove SCCL undertakes to carry out the works within a maximum of two years from the moment it obtains the building permit.
Development of the ESAL Agreement
The project of carrer de Bolivia is part of the ESAL Agreement, signed in 2020 by Barcelona City Council and the main federations of cooperatives and social housing foundations. This agreement was created to be a pioneer mechanism for cooperation with the third sector, in which public plots of land are assigned to non-profit organisations and the land is transferred to them.
This enables the promotion of the construction and renovation of subsidised housing for rental and transfer of the right of use (co-housing) through the constitution of surface rights. It is a tool that boosts the growth of the public housing stock, while diversifying the range of agents involved.
The ESAL Agreement is an alliance between Barcelona City Council and the Federació de Cooperatives d’Habitatges de Catalunya (FCHC), the Coordinadora de Fundacions d’Habitatge Social (Cohabitac), the Associació Xarxa d’Economia Solidària (XES) and the Associació de Gestors de Polítiques Socials d’Habitatge de Catalunya (GHS).