Barcelona City Council and the Society for the Management of Assets from Bank Restructuring (Sareb) have agreed today to transfer 23 new homes from the “bad bank” so that the City Council can allocate them for social rental.
The first deputy mayor of Barcelona City Council, Laia Bonet, and Pau Pérez de Acha, director of Social and Affordable Housing and Institutional Relations of Sareb, have signed the new transfer agreement, which affects 200 homes and replaces the one signed in 2015. This resulted in the transfer of 143 apartments, which will continue in this regime, and to which 23 new ones will be added, with the possibility that this number could be expanded until finally reaching 200. It is planned to maintain the conditions of transfer agreed eight years ago.
The 23 homes that are incorporated have been the subject of study by the technical and social services of the Institut Municipal de l’Habitatge i Rehabilitació (IMHAB) in order to evaluate whether they meet the appropriate conditions of habitability and employment. The investment necessary for set-up has also been assessed. If an investment is necessary, both parties will assume it equally.
In those cases where families in a vulnerable situation reside in the homes without an authorized title, Barcelona City Council will provide the relevant social assistance to evaluate the acceptance of the homes offered and the regularization of the situation with a rental contract.
The new agreement will have a duration of four years, which may be renewed annually for a maximum of four more years. After this period, the agreement between the two parties establishes that the homes will return to the hands of Sareb, which will subrogate the current rental contracts.
In any case, the agreement reserves for Barcelona City Council the preferential right to purchase the homes transferred during the validity of the agreement. As consideration for the usufruct, the City Council will pay a fee of 125 euros per month for each home that is empty at the time of transfer and 75 euros per month for those that are occupied.
The 143 homes ceded by Sareb and the 23 that will be ceded under the new agreement are distributed territorially as follows: 2 in Ciutat Vella, 20 in Sants-Montjuïc, 4 in Gràcia, 23 in Horta-Guinardó, 77 in Nou Barris , 26 in Sant Andreu and 14 in Sant Martí.
