The Spanish Association of Public Housing and Land Managers (AVS) has awarded the Intervention Service for Wellbeing in Communities (SIBEC) of the Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation of Barcelona (IMHAB) in the category for best performance in the management and administration of social housing stock. The jury highlighted “the uniqueness of this innovative model of diagnosis and intervention”.
The manager of IMHAB, Gerard Capó, received the award last night at the presentation ceremony of the tenth edition of the AVS Awards for Good Practice in Public Housing and Land Management, which was held at La Casa de la Arquitectura in Madrid.
What is SIBEC?
The Intervention Service for Wellbeing in Communities intervenes in the homes and neighbourhood associations managed by the IMHAB, with the aim of identifying problems and monitoring proposals for improvement. It also promotes preventive measures to avoid incidents.
SIBEC was launched about a year ago, in June 2023, with a first phase in which the internal implementation tools were defined. At the end of last year, the next phase began, the diagnosis phase, in which the different needs of several blocks of flats were analysed. Once this was completed, the intervention phase began in January 2024.
The service structure is divided into five groups and four intervention teams. These groups correspond to the buildings at Nou de la Rambla, 39; OM-Arc del Teatre; Renfe-Meridiana; Santa Coloma, 55-71; and Escolapi Càncer. In total, 746 homes are being monitored.
The role of the intervention groups is to detect possible inadequacies in the homes, prevent and resolve conflicts in the community, work to reduce payment arrears, provide social support and prevent eviction.
To achieve this, regular meetings are held and work is carried out with social agents, in addition to coordination with IMHAB.
What is AVS?
This is the Spanish Association of Public Housing and Land Managers (AVS). It was founded in 1988 and is made up of more than 150 public housing and land management organisations, as well as public services and companies dependent on public administrations.
One of its objectives is to “defend the access of citizens, especially the most vulnerable groups, to decent and affordable housing”.