“The challenge is to ensure that the European funds for the regeneration of neighborhoods are spent on and help vulnerable families,” says Lorenzo Viñas, president of the Col.legi d’Administradors de Finques de Barcelona i Lleida. And for this the school has He proposed that the public authorities create ex officio administrators in the properties that do not have these professionals “so that they request and manage European aid, the search for financing and the execution of improvement works,” Viñas points out. The most depressed, in which these aids are most necessary, are the ones that most frequently do not have an administrator.”And in all types of housing, our role is essential so that the funds reach the communities of owners”, due to the complexity involved in the grant management.
The Next Generation funds finance works to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, resulting in energy savings that are most needed by the poorest families. “The neighbors often do not want to undertake the works because they doubt that the subsidy will reach them. But this is not the case: before starting the works, the community already knows if it has the funds and there are many options to stagger the payment of the cost that the aid does not cover ”, he adds.
The Barcelona and Lleida school is one of the largest in Spain, with 2,200 members, 32 employees and an annual budget of around 3.7 million euros. The bulk of its members -60%- are between 41 and 60 years old, and ex officio administrators could also be a path of professional development for the youngest (members under 40 years of age account for 10% of the group).
The most notable activity of property managers is the management of multi-family buildings in which there is a community of owners, but they also manage real estate assets for rent to investors and mediate in the rental or sale of real estate. “We are the professionals who best know the state of the housing stock and the problems of the neighbors,” he said. For this reason, one of the demands of the association has been that the communities of owners be allowed to present a complaint in case of illegal occupations. “The neighbors tell the administrator immediately. And we are the ones who best know the damage that an illegal occupation causes to the property and the damage that it causes to the other owners and neighbors on the farm. And even to those of the nearby buildings”.
Viñas, who has been the manager of the Col legi since 2014, and has chaired it since the end of last year, points out that the entity has focused on becoming a center of professional services for its members, which allows it to be largely self-financing.
