Housing offices only offer face-to-face assistance by prior appointment, so check out the “Housing calls you” service here to receive the most appropriate personalised assistance. If you also need assistance in energy rights, book an appointment with an energy-advice point (PAE) by clicking here. On the other hand, if you reside in an IMHAB public dwelling you can consult our contact, management and processing channels here.​

You will find information here on all topics relating to housing in Barcelona

PAE

The Energy Advice Points are a service of the Barcelona City Council that offers the information, care and intervention necessary so that people can exercise their energy rights and companies do not deny them access to basic supplies.

PAU (Programa d'Actuació Urbanística)

Urban Development Plan. This aims to convert non-programmed urbanisable land, not defined by the PGOU, into land for the construction of housing, at least 50% of which will be some kind of social housing.

Payable base

Figure used for calculating the amounts to be paid.

Percentage owned

The percentage applied to the value of the building's land and common elements for horizontal property buildings (community of property owners), according to which costs are distributed.

Periodicity

Frequency with which the loan instalments are paid. This should coincide with the periodicity of income.

Permanent residency

People with the right to permanent residency include citizens of other European Union states or citizens of a member state of the European Economic Area Agreement, and the members of families who are not from these states but who have legally resided in Spain for a continuous period of five years.

PGOU (Pla General d'Ordenació Urbana)

General Plan for Urban Zoning. Contains information on possible building sites in a municipality, lists the types of land and the town planning regulations that affect them, as well as planned facilities, infrastructures and development for the municipality. Every city council has an urban planning department where information on a specific building site can be obtained.

Planning project

A work project produced by a technician who is qualified to do so.

Power of attorney

Authorisation given, in the presence of a notary public, to a third party to carry out a specified action.

Pre-emptive rights or acquisition

A tenant's preferential right to buy the dwelling he or she is renting. If the dwelling is sold without taking the tenant's pre-emptive rights into consideration, the tenant can buy it by exercising the retrospective right of first refusal.

Premises

A dwelling's construction elements and fixed installations.

Private document

Regarding a legal, mercantile or administrative action, it contains the wishes of the author. If it is a sales and purchasing document, it contains the wish of the parties involved to transfer the ownership of a property.

Property

Jurisdiction over an asset, giving the holder the capacity to dispose of it as they wish, with no limitations other than those established by law.

Property (Finca)

Term used in the Property Registry to designate a dwelling. Each dwelling is a registered property.

Property administrator

The person responsible for the administration work of the property, both for communities of property owners and property belonging to a single owner that is leased.

Property registration status

The result of the registration data for a property, which records the encumbrances and owners.

Property Registry

Public office that records the changes affecting the ownership of property, their rights and obligations, and title holders.

Provisional classification certificate

Resolution that provisionally provides certain benefits for promoting housing. In order to get access to grants and to classify the dwellings as social housing, definitive classification must be obtained.

Provisions

Partial amounts of the total loan amount that have been requested and which are used as the term of the loan progresses.

Public debt

Depends on the performance of public debt on secondary trading. Hardly any financial institutions use this.

Public deed

A deed signed and ratified by a notary public who registers it in the Property Registry.

Public document

Regarding a legal, mercantile or administrative action, this is a document authorised by a notary public, allowing its registration in the Property Register. It is commonly known as a 'deed', and some of the most common examples are those referring to mortgages, sales, new buildings and horizontal division.

Public stock

Social housing properties subject to subsidies from city councils or the Generalitat of Catalonia.