The construction of new homes has fallen by 69% in the city of Barcelona in the first half of the year, according to data from projects approved by the College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC): in the period only 240 homes.
According to the president of the college’s Barcelona division, Sandra Bestraten, the low building activity in the city is due to “legal uncertainty” and especially to the regulations that oblige developers to allocate 30% of homes to the new social housing developments. So, according to COAC data, this year only three developments have been seen that meet this requirement: very small, with a total of 54 homes, of which 16 are for protection. Barcelona, ??Bestraten recalled, is also a consolidated city, with little land available.
The transfer of 30% also affects major renovations, which have slowed down, so that the targeted area of ??homes, both new and renovated, has fallen by 54% in the city and stands at 63,766 m². The new mayor of Barcelona, ??Jaume Collboni, has already announced his intention to revise this regulation.
Sònia Oliveras, director general of the COAC, emphasized that the Catalan Sectoral Housing Plan set itself the goal of building 25,000 homes a year to meet the housing needs of the population, a number “that has not been never fulfilled”, he lamented.
In Catalonia as a whole, during the first semester, 7,433 homes were acquired, concentrated in Girona and the towns around Barcelona: Vilanova i la Geltrú (372), Sabadell (359), Esplugues de Llobregat (306) , Abrera (189), Prat de Llobregat (165), Hospitalet de Llobregat (163), Badalona (159), Terrassa (146), Montgat (138), Cubelles (131) and Viladecans (111).
“Real estate investment is moving outside the capital, towards well-connected localities, and towards the promotion of buildings with uses other than housing”, lamented Oliveras. According to COAC data, the total surface area targeted in Catalonia fell by 5% during the semester, to 2,270,000 m2 of surface area, below pre-pandemic levels. In non-residential projects, visas are falling in sectors linked to economic activity (shopping centres, hotels and restaurants, industrial buildings and offices), while buildings intended for healthcare and education are increasing.
Bestraten acknowledged that the hope of the architects is that after the stop forced by the electoral cycle, building activity will be reactivated. So, in June, with 603,783 m² visited, it was the month with the most activity since the school has records.
In his opinion, in addition, the administrations should take measures to encourage housing development. The president of the Barcelona architects proposed that the Administration opens up to collaboration with the private sector to speed up processes, and reduce bureaucracy and the time needed to obtain licenses. Bestraten also asked that urban policies be adapted so that they meet the strategic objectives for which they are designed (in an allusion to the secondary effects of the controversial 30%) and that there be legal stability. “These are factors that make investment move to other areas where there are no such drawbacks”, he acknowledged.
To solve the problem of rising housing prices, Bestraten demanded that the administrations start building social housing on vacant lots. “There is a lot of public land that could be put on the market with private collaboration to build affordable housing. It is a challenge that is on the table and that the public administrations have to take up sooner or later”, he stressed.
