The residents of number 7 Sant Eugeni de L’Hospitalet street, in the Sant Josep neighborhood, have been living together since July 2020 with the props that were placed to secure the building. A water leak on the first floor revealed a serious problem in the structure of the property that was also detected in the surrounding areas, the so-called Blocs Ciutat Comtal. Although advised by the City Council, the community can opt for rehabilitation subsidies from Next Generation funds, the neighbors, many of them elderly, cannot afford the 56,000 euros that it would cost. “To access European funds it is necessary to improve the energy efficiency of the building and that increases the price. We no longer know what to do,” laments the neighbors’ spokesperson, Mònica Domínguez.
According to the last census of the National Institute of Statistics (INE) in 2011, 18% of the almost 10,000 buildings in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat are not in good condition. Aware of this, the city council has launched two municipal offices to support the processing of Next Generation funds and other existing aid. According to the latest data available, around twenty communities have already started the procedures to be eligible for European aid and up to three have already started construction.
In the case of the neighborhood community at number 7 Sant Eugeni Street, despite being eligible for aid, they have been living on props for four years because they cannot afford the rehabilitation costs. Its spokesperson, Mònica Domínguez, explains that solving the carbonation problems, very similar to aluminosis, would cost about 30,000 euros, a figure that almost doubles if the building’s energy efficiency must be improved, an essential condition to access European funds.
“30,000 euros is a lot of money, but 56,000 is an unaffordable figure for the majority of neighbors and if a few do not pay, no bank will give us the loan. The truth is that we no longer know what to do, we are at a dead end,” he acknowledges. Dominguez.
Despite being aware that the City Council cannot bear the cost of the repairs and are grateful for the advisory work, the neighbors demand from the administration some more alternative to the Next Generation funds. “We no longer know what to ask for. We will wait four or five more months and if the neighbors cannot cover the cost of the rehabilitation we will choose to repair only the beams and not ask for European subsidies as the neighbors of a nearby building have done,” he says. .
Domínguez explains that the problems in the structure of the building were detected in 2018 and that since 2020 they have coexisted with the props installed in kitchens and bathrooms. Despite being clear about the problem and how to solve it, the economic limitations of many residents are prolonging a situation that has become “unsustainable.”
The neighborhood spokesperson explains that other buildings in the Blocs Ciutat Comtal are also affected and that those that are not are because the pertinent tests have not been carried out. These are, she points out, buildings built 50 years ago with defective materials that are suffering from the beams falling apart as if they were sand. “During the pandemic, the lobby of one of the buildings collapsed and, whether you like it or not, you are always afraid that something bad could happen,” she adds.
The City Council recalls that in 2021 they commissioned the UPC to carry out a study to find out the real situation of the blocks and that, from the first moment, they have made themselves available to residents to inform them of all the subsidies managed by the Metropolitan Consortium. of Housing to which they can benefit. However, they also point out that the cost of rehabilitation is always borne by the property owners.
