Barcelona leads the European debate on local solutions to the housing crisis
The Mayors for Housing association focuses on issues such as the lack of housing, which affects Barcelona and other major European cities. Ramon Bastida, director of the Chair of Decent and Sustainable Housing at UPF-BSM, participates as a guest expert.
Summary of the news published in El Món (Economy)
Public administrations continue searching for solutions to address the serious housing crisis affecting Barcelona and other Catalan cities, exacerbated by rising rental prices, a lack of supply, pressure from tourism, and evictions.
However, this situation is not unique to Barcelona. For this reason, 16 mayors of major European cities—including Jaume Collboni—have launched the Mayors for Housing initiative, calling on the European institutions to implement concrete measures such as the creation of a European Affordable Housing Fund that would mobilize €300 billion in public and private funds.
The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, and fifteen European mayors / ACN – News published in El Món
What’s new is that these demands are coming from the local level, and not from the Member States as was customary. The goal is for the European Housing Action Plan to influence the first European Plan for Affordable Housing, planned for 2026, to ensure that cities play an active role in the design and management of policies and funds in this area.
Giving local communities a central role would represent a significant shift in the design of European housing policies. For several experts, the fact that this mobilization stems from local governments is a positive step toward addressing the problem.
In this regard, Ramon Bastida, director of the UPF-BSM Chair of Decent and Sustainable Housing, promoted in collaboration with the Metropolitan House Foundation, noted that “local governments know firsthand the real needs of the people who live in their cities” and emphasized the specific pressures faced by large cities.
Furthermore, Bastida points out that while in other European countries the social rental stock represents between 24 and 30%, in Catalonia it is less than 2%. According to data from the Catalan government, it is currently 1.7%, with a forecast of reaching 9% by 2044.
Regarding the proposals of Mayors for Housing, Bastida emphasizes that in addition to constructing new buildings, it is necessary to allocate part of these funds to the renovation of existing housing stock, in order to rapidly increase supply.
Along the same lines, Josep Maria Raya, director of the APCE-UPF Chair in Housing and the Future, points out that the creation of new affordable housing is a medium- and long-term solution, but that vulnerable groups must also be helped in the short term with subsidies that allow them to pay rent now.
- Click to read the full article in El Món