The Government Commission has approved the purchase of the first flats to be acquired through the regulation to allocate 30% of new-build homes and major residential renovations as affordable housing. Eight flats in the district of Sant Andreu will form part of the city’s public housing stock through this acquisition. After two years of exemptions and the pandemic, the measure currently accounts for the construction of 120 protected homes.
This first acquisition has been made using the right to preferential purchase which the City Council can exercise to acquire protected housing on sale in the city. The purchase is for eight flats with between 71 and 89 square metres of useful space, eight parking places and a storage room. The total cost of the purchase is 2,094,730 euros.
The flats are in a block with 27 homes in C/ Puerto Príncipe, in the neighbourhood of El Congrés i els Indians. The block is currently being renovated and the flats are expected to be available in 2024.
Thanks to this regulation allocating 30% of new-build homes and major renovation projects as protected housing, flats are being built in the districts of L’Eixample, Sants-Montjuïc, Gràcia, Horta-Guinardó, Nou Barris, Sant Andreu and Sant Martí, providing 120 new affordable homes in all.
After two years of exemptions and the pandemic, inspections have also started to detect possible cases of non-compliance. So far these have helped detect seventeen developments which do not comply with the regulation as they have not set aside 30% of housing and will be fined in accordance with the Catalan Act on the Right to Housing.