Barcelona City Council has handed over the keys to new social rental houses on a building bought in the Gracia area. The Councilor for Housing and Rehabilitation, Lucía Martín, and the Councilor for the district of Gracia, Eloi Badia, have welcomed the new awarded neighbors during the handing over keys event on the same terrace of the building.
The housing councilor explains that the scarcity of municipal land in the Gracia neighborhood makes very difficult to offer this kind of housing in the district, but the alternative of buying is being worked on. “What happens in this district is about there is no land to build on. For this reason, one of the strategies that we have implemented especially here, it is to buy homes that are already built. And that is what we did with this estate,” says Martín.
Affordable rental on Torrent de les Flors
The building, located on Torrent de les Flors street, is made up of 11 flats; 10 flats have 2 bedrooms and they can reach up to 75m2, and another one is measuring 120m2 which has 3 bedrooms. This state also has 10 parking spaces and 3 storage rooms. Three houses have been set aside for people under 35 years of age, one house for single-parent families, two houses for people living in the surrounding neighborhoods (Vila de Gràcia, Camp d’en Grassot, Gràcia Nova, La Salut) and three houses for the general contingent. The affordable rent of the awarded houses through the Register of Applicants for Official Protection Housing of Barcelona will be between 440 and 550 euros monthly payment.
“It is a neighborhood that is undergoing a lot of gentrification, which means that the traditional Gracia’s residents have to leave because they cannot afford the current rental prices,” insists Eloi Badia. And he defines this social rental awarded housing’s estate as ‘small oases’: “Because it happens very rarely due to the fact that we have very few buildings in Vila de Gracia”.
Happiness among the new awardees
The new awarded neighbor, Gala Duran, has been living in Gracia’s district all her life. And she comments: “We have friends who have been on the lists for five years. But we signed up a year ago, and, a month ago, we received the call about we were the lucky winner of a house. We are very happy because it was difficult to stay in the neighborhood”.
The new awarded neighbor and father of a family, Jaime Garcia, affirms that he signed up for the Registry of Housing Applicants in 2020, as a result of the pandemic. “I saw that there was a draw on June 9. But you never expect these things go to you. It was a surprise because, furthermore, we are next to Sant Genís neighborhood where we are from and where we used to live until now.
On the other hand, Fatima Prieto, she is also a new neighbor in Torrent de les Flors, has been on the Registry lists for eight years. “Each year I have been renewing and fulfilling the requirements. The truth is that these waiting eight years have been worth it. It’s like you win the lottery,” she declares.
The IMHAB exercises the right of preemption and buyout
The Municipal Institute for Housing and Renovation (IMHAB) bought this property for 4.9 million euros, 18% below the market price, exercising the right of preemption and buyout. The right of preemption and buyout is an urban planning tool that allows the City Council to intervene in a sale of residential buildings between private parties. This is one of the two purchased estates in Vila de Gracia during 2021, altogether with the other one on Camprodón street. Both in Gracia ‘s district.
The Councilor for Housing, Lucía Martín, claims that if the City Council had not bought this building on Torrent de les Flors Street, surely the price to rent these homes would be double or triple. “We are not only expanding the city’s affordable housing stock to have more municipal houses; but we are also managing to lower prices in over swamped neighborhoods with a lot of real estate and price pressure“, she concludes.