Making affordable housing available to citizens. This is the objective of the agreement signed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Institut Català de Finances (ICF), through which the European entity will lend 490 million euros to the Catalan public bank. The credit, the highest agreed so far between both institutions, has been closed with one purpose: to facilitate the construction of more than 4,300 affordable rental homes in Catalonia.
Thus, it is a "historic" operation, being the highest loan granted by the EIB to the ICF, according to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Natàlia Mas. The measure, which will potentially benefit more than 10,000 people, will contribute to creating 6,850 jobs with the construction of the homes.
With the forecast that the flats will be available by mid-2028, the agreement aims to generate "homes adapted to the needs of citizens, and energy efficient," according to the Director of Operations for Spain and Portugal of the EIB, Gilles Badot.
The agreement has been closed in a context where social rental flats represent 1.7% of the first residence housing stock in Catalonia. This agreement aims to expand this figure and "guarantee the right to housing in Catalonia," according to the CEO of the ICF, Vanessa Servera.
The operation, in which the Agència Catalana de l'Habitatge will subsidize the financial costs of the operations for developers who adhere to the loans, adds to measures promoted by other administrations to expand the affordable housing stock.
Among these measures is the agreement between the Barcelona City Council and the Consorcio de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB) to promote 1,900 protected flats in the city. Taking into account these 1,900 homes, Barcelona adds more than 8,700 flats under promotion, to which those mobilized through this agreement between the EIB and the ICF will be added.