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The increase in affordable supply, the rehabilitation of the housing stock and regulation, focus the debate of the FHAR 2025
With the fourth edition of the Barcelona Housing and Rehabilitation Forum (FHAR), held on 7, 8 and 9 May 2025, the event consolidates itself as a meeting point for experts in the housing sector. This initiative, promoted by the Municipal Institute of Housing and Rehabilitation (IMHAB) of the Barcelona City Council, has become a space for debate for professionals from the public and private sectors, who have expressed the need to create synergies to address the current and future housing situation in the city.
During the event, held on 7, 8 and 9 May at the Palo Alto Barcelona venue, topics such as increasing public supply, the rehabilitation of the public and private housing stock, and market regulation were addressed. Likewise, the different speakers have put on the table the impact of the lack of investment by the State in the construction of new homes since 2013, the inequality in access to housing, as well as the need to generate land and funds through various channels. In addition, formulas have been presented to promote affordable housing, industrialized construction and energy transformation. Similarly, at the FHAR the Living Plan has been made known, guided tours have been given to different promotions in the city and the monographic publication 'Quaderns d’Habitatge' has been presented.
At the conclusion of the forum, a call has been made to consider housing as an essential pillar of the welfare state and, as such, a city challenge that requires the involvement and collaboration of all sectors of society.
The opinion of the experts
Agustí Jover
Founding partner of Promo Assessors Consultors
Topics of debate: The current state of social housing in Catalonia and Barcelona, as well as the involvement of both the State and the Generalitat and their financing capacity to address different actions in this area.
Sara Gasull
Head of the Maintenance and Rehabilitation Department of the IMHAB.
Topics of debate: The rehabilitation of the public housing stock and vulnerable environments carried out in accordance with safety and pathology criteria, as well as improvements in energy efficiency and accessibility, all without losing sight of the achievement of challenges such as temporary rehousing and the application of the new public administration procurement law.
Joan Ramon Riera
Housing Commissioner at Barcelona City Council.
Topics of debate: Approach to the Living Plan: the future of housing in Barcelona from the public perspective as well as the difficulties of accessibility to housing in the city. It is necessary to provide housing to the citizens by amortizing tourist use licenses and prioritizing residential use for the future of housing.
Pablo Feu
Jurist specializing in housing.
Topics of debate: In-depth analysis of the new law regulating rental prices and the influence of market action on the loss of territorial dispersion and social cohesion as well as the response of economic agents and the need to reduce seasonal housing.
Greta Tresserra
Architect and international consultant in carbon neutral and resilient cities.
Topics of debate: Focus on the environmental impact of the construction sector and proposals for sustainable and decarbonized solutions carried out in residential construction in order to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Lorena Reula
Managing Director of the Municipal Society Zaragoza Habitatge.
Topics of debate: Mention of the projects, challenges and current attraction power of Zaragoza as well as its social housing policy and the 'Más Vivienda' plan, materialized in a protocol signed by the government of Aragon and the City Council of Zaragoza and focused on the transfer of endowment plots in favor of the DGA for the construction of housing.
Beatriz García
PARIS HABITAT Program Manager.
Topics of debate: Mention of the difficulty of providing affordable housing in consolidated urban environments in Europe, along with the current situation of the real estate market in Paris and the measures of the city council to address it.
Presentations May 7
Welcome FHAR 2025
9:30 am
Topic
Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona, was in charge of welcoming the fourth edition of the FHAR. In his speech, he shared the commitment, challenges and objectives of the city of Barcelona in terms of housing.
Speaker
· Jaume Collboni (Mayor of Barcelona)
Diagnosis of the state of sheltered housing in Catalonia and Barcelona
10:00 am
Topic
Agustí Jover, founding partner of Promo Assessors Consultors, shares reflections derived from research carried out in collaboration with the UPF and the Cátedra Futur, an analysis that has allowed the identification of the main challenges for the promotion of subsidized housing (HPO). The diagnosis presented offers a detailed vision of the state of subsidized housing both in the city of Barcelona and in Catalonia as a whole.
Speaker
· Agustí Jover (Founding Partner of Promo Assessors Consultors)
Pla Viure: the future of housing in Barcelona from a public perspective
11:30 am
Topic
During his speech, Joan Ramón Riera, Housing Commissioner at Barcelona City Council, presents the Living Plan and highlights the housing emergency as a system error as well as the necessary public response at the level of regulation, resources and public policy.
Speaker
· Joan Ramon Riera (Housing Commissioner at Barcelona City Council)
Housing participation models
12:00 p.m.
Topic
Núria Colomé, founding partner of Celobert Cooperativa and Ivan Gallardo, head of the Department of Promotion of Sheltered Housing, Urban Planning and Housing Management, Barcelona City Council, present the new Pla Viure office and present different models of housing participation.
Speakers
· Núria Colomé (Founding Partner of Celobert Cooperativa)
· Ivan Gallardo (Head of the Department of Promotion of Sheltered Housing. Urban Planning and Housing Management. Barcelona City Council)
The future of housing in our country: inequalities in access to housing for purchase and rental
1:00 p.m.
Topic
Jordi Mas, Josep Antoni Martinez and Carme Trilla discuss the difficulties in accessing housing in a panel moderated by architect, researcher and communicator Núria Moliner. The lack of opportunities for young people and groups in precarious situations were some of the topics mentioned.
Speakers
· Jordi Mas (General Director of Housing)
· Josep Antoni Martínez (President of the Barcelona and Comarques Construction Guild)
· Carme Trilla (President of the Hàbitat3 Foundation and the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory)
Rehabilitation strategies
16:00 h
Topic
Journalist Oriol Carreras moderates a panel discussion with industry experts Anna M. Font, Montserrat Prado, Jordi Sanuy and Celestí Ventura focused on rehabilitation strategies and the renovation of aging fabrics in European cities as the present and future of architecture.
Speakers
· Anna M. Font (Director of the European Funds program in the field of rehabilitation and regeneration. Barcelona City Council. Barcelona Housing Consortium)
· Montserrat Prado (Technical Director of the Municipal Institute of Urban Landscape)
· Jordi Sanuy (Director of Quality of Building and Housing Rehabilitation of the Housing Agency of Catalonia)
· Celestí Ventura (President of the Barcelona College of Technical Architecture)
The rehabilitation of public housing stock and vulnerable environments
5:15 p.m.
Topic
Sara Gasull, Marta Martínez, Àlex Montes and Glòria Viladrich present active actions in different administrations to promote and achieve the rehabilitation of the public housing stock in a session moderated by Núria Pedrals, architect and former Director General of Quality, Sustainability and Rehabilitation.
Speakers
· Sara Gasull (Head of the Maintenance and Rehabilitation Department of the IMHAB)
· Marta Martínez (Director of the Next Generation Fund Program of the Housing Agency of Catalonia)
· Àlex Montes (Director General of City Development)
· Glòria Viladrich (Manager of the Municipal Institute of Urban Planning)
Presentations May 8
Housing notebooks: the new law regulating rental prices
1:15 p.m.
Topic
Journalist Laura Sangrà moderates a panel discussion with industry experts Carles Donat, Griselda Fernández, Pablo Feu and Joan Ramón Riera to analyze the new law regulating rental prices. At the same event, the new collection Quaderns d'habitatge is presented, an initiative of the Barcelona City Council and IMHAB, the first edition of which is dedicated precisely to this law.
Speakers
· Carles Donat (Co-director. Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory)
· Griselda Fernández (Director of Public Park Management Services at IMHAB)
· Pablo Feu (Housing Commissioner at Barcelona City Council)
· Joan Ramon Riera (Head of Urban Innovation at the Bit Habitat Foundation at Barcelona City Council)
Innovative construction solutions in rehabilitation
3:00 p.m.
Topic
Luïsa Cendrón, head of urban innovation at the Bit Habitat Foundation of the Barcelona City Council, and Jordi París, partner architect at París Camp Arquitectura, pre-present the Guide for the decarbonization of rehabilitation, within the framework of the Urbanew project, to decarbonize cities and achieve climate neutrality by 2030.
Speakers
· Lluïsa Cendón (Head of urban innovation at the Bit Habitat Foundation of the Barcelona City Council)
· Jordi París (Partner architect at París Camps Arquitectura)
Decarbonizing construction
3:30 p.m.
Topic
Sector professionals Licinto Alfaro, Marta Benedicto, David Juarez and Dani López discuss the challenges and the combination of the climate emergency with the housing emergency in a panel moderated by journalist Oriol Carreras.
Speakers
· Licinio Alfaro (Head of the Sustainable Construction Department of ITeC)
· Marta Benedicto (Founding Partner of Cierto Estudio)
· David Juarez (Architect at Straddle3)
· Daniel López (Works Coordinator. Projects and Works Department. IMHAB)
Renovation as a tool for decent housing
16:30 p.m.
Topic
Greta Tresserra, architect and international consultant in carbon neutral and resilient cities, closes the second session of FHAR 2025 by talking about decarbonization, the great challenge in terms of climate policy, and how it combines with housing access policies.
Speaker
· Greta Tresserra (Architect and international consultant in carbon neutral and resilient cities)
Presentations May 9
Provision of affordable housing in consolidated urban environments: the case of Paris
9:00 am
Topic
Beatriz Garcia, PARIS HABITAT Program Manager, explains during her speech the state of social housing in France, the initiatives in Paris and presents success stories from the city.
Speaker
· Beatriz García (PARIS HABITAT Program Manager)
The promotion of public housing: land generation, financing, construction systems and management
9:45 am
Topic
In a session moderated by Gerard Capó, Manager of IMHAB, experts Hilda González, Yolana Larrubia, Susana Cayuelas and Lorena Reula discuss the need for land generation, its financing and construction models. They also present the projects, active plans and challenges present in regions and cities such as Andalusia and Zaragoza.
Speakers
· Hilda González (President of GHS)
· Yolanda Larrubia (Head of Land Promotion and Management Service at IMPSOL)
· Susana Cayuelas (General Director of the Housing and Rehabilitation Agency of Andalusia (AVRA))
· Lorena Reula (Managing Director of the Municipal Society Zaragoza Habitat)
Affordable housing: formulas for its promotion
11:45 am
Topic
In a debate moderated by José María López, president of the Spanish Association of Housing and Land (AVS), sector experts Jerónimo Escalera, David Guàrdia, Donato Muñoz, Liliana Reyes and Manel Rodríguez put on the table concrete and feasible solutions for affordable housing as well as different formulas for its promotion.
Speakers
· Jerónimo Escalera (Manager of EMVS Madrid)
· David Guàrdia (Directorate of development of cooperative housing model and viability and Co-management)
· Donato Muñoz (CEO of CEVASA)
· Liliana Reyes (Secretariat of the Barcelonès and Migrations CCOO Catalonia)
· Manel Rodríguez (CEO Grup SALAS)
FHAR 2025 Final
1:15 p.m.
Topic
Laia Bonet, First Deputy Mayor, closes this fourth edition of the FHAR by highlighting aspects such as the importance of sharing horizons and establishing strategies to position housing as the fifth leg of the welfare state, the need for rehabilitation, urban regeneration and the linkage of all sectors of society.
Speaker
· Laia Bonet (First Deputy Mayor of Barcelona City Council)