The Barcelona City Council has bought this year 13 residential buildings and another 13 apartments distributed throughout the city, which will add 382 homes to the municipal rental stock, with an investment close to 60 million euros. Half of the apartments, about 198, are located in the Nou Barris district, due to the acquisition of the development of four buildings in Torre Baró, belonging to Regesa.
Since 2015, the Barcelona City Council has expanded the public housing stock through the purchase of 1,228 homes, with an accumulated investment of 129 million euros.
According to city council calculations, the expansion of the social housing offer will benefit a thousand people who can be offered an accessible low rent.
Leaving aside the operation closed in Torre Baró, this year, the city council has intensified the purchase of homes in central neighborhoods where land availability for construction is scarce. This has occurred especially in the Eixample district and, to a lesser but significant extent, in Vila de Gràcia, an especially dense neighborhood with little public housing presence.
The City Council makes purchases through the right of first refusal and redemption, which requires that all real estate purchase and sale operations between private parties be communicated to the public administration, which allows detecting acquisition opportunities at prices below the average. Thus, of the 60 million euros invested in 2021, the average investment per home has been about 156,600 euros, an amount that includes the necessary rehabilitation estimates for each property.
Regarding the market price, the reduction range in relation to real estate sector averages varies depending on the case. The City Council has reported that in the acquisitions made during the last four months, the greatest percentage saving corresponded to the purchase and rehabilitation of a property on Camprodon street which, with an investment of 1.34 million euros, represented a 39% reduction compared to the market price.
The rest of the investments and the corresponding rehabilitation estimates were those on Diputació street, of 10.9 million euros, with a 32% saving; that on Fonthonrada street, of 2.8 million, with a 33% saving; and that on Torrent de les Flors street, of 10.9 million and an 18% saving.
In most cases, according to municipal sources, major rehabilitations will not be necessary, with the exception of the development of 38 homes in Horta-Guinardó, on Mont-ral and Letamendi streets, work that will be carried out by a social housing foundation, after the inclusion of this property in the agreement for the promotion of social and affordable housing with entities in the social and cooperative housing sector.
The average investment per home has been around 156,600 eurosOperations have also been closed in the Eixample, where five properties with 99 homes have been acquired on Calàbria, Floridablanca, Borrell, Balmes, and Diputació streets. In Gràcia, there have been 17 flats, on Camprodon and Torrent de les Flors streets; in the latter case, it is a new construction property where no technical intervention will be necessary. In Sants-Montjuïc, another 11 homes have been purchased on Fonthornada street.
To these must be added another 13 empty homes, purchased individually in different parts of the city: Raval (2 flats), Sants, Porta, Turó de la Peira, Les Roquetes, Prosperitat, Trinitat Nova, Ciutat Meridiana (4), Besòs and Maresme.
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