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Housing Glossary

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

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Accrued interest

The interest applied as a penalisation when the debtor does not comply with repayment obligations. The amount must be established in the contract.

Active supermortgage

This allows the client to choose their loan's benchmark index (MIBOR at three months, six months or a year) so that payment can benefit from lower interest rates sooner.

Adaptable instalment

Characteristic of UCI superloans that allow the borrower to not pay one instalment a year for the first three years if there are problems due to holidays, extraordinary expenses, etc.

Advanced cancellation fee

A commission arising from the financial risk involved in the advanced cancellation of an operation. The applied commission compensates the financial institution for its financial losses.

AEDE

Direct state aid for paying the deposit on a property.

Affordable housing

Group of social housing or dwellings from social renovation projects that are sold or rented at below-market prices.

Affordable rent

The cost of renting these dwellings is below market prices after being included in operations concerning the rented flat pool, social renovation or social housing promotions.

Amortisation

Payment made to repay a loan.

Amortisation period

The duration of the loan. The contract establishes the date of the first and last payments. The longer the period, the lower the payments are, but the higher the interest. You therefore pay more in the end. The monthly instalment should not exceed 35% of your net income.

API

Estate agent. A qualified professional who acts as an intermediary between the two interested parties to facilitate the signing of a real estate contract, which can be a rental agreement, a sales agreement or another similar contract. They usually charge a percentage of the sales price as compensation or commission.

Applicant

A citizen who makes a registration application to the Barcelona Social Housing Applicants Registry, and who represents the other members of the dwelling unit included in the application.

APR

Annual Equivalent Rate. Effective annual cost of the mortgage in terms of interest, commissions and the repayment period. To compare loans, it is not enough to just look at the lowest APR, you also have to compare the conditions, the repayment period and the distribution of instalment payments.

Arbitri municipal de plusvàlua

Former denomination of the capital gains tax on landed property.

Assessment

The value of a dwelling certified by a specialised assessment company, in accordance with the mortgage market law. This certificate not only indicates the real value of the property, it also serves as a reference for obtaining the necessary financing.

Authorisation

Document in which the owner authorises the tenant to carry out building work in the dwelling's interior.

Close glossary

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.​

Owners of multiple properties have 36% of flats with regular rents

18/11/2022 - 14:50

Housing. The conclusion comes from the report “Structure and concentration of home ownership in Barcelona 2021”, by the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory.

The Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory (O-HB) has published the report from the third edition of the laboratory “Structure and concentration of home ownership in Barcelona 2021”, which offers a snapshot of the 754,326 main homes in the city. Of this stock, 38.5% (290,416 homes) are regular rents, with over a third of these (36%) in the hands of owners of multiple properties (legal or natural persons with more than ten homes).

The detailed O-HB study of the stock of properties with regular rents, based on data from the Catalan Land Institute (Incasòl), also highlights that the stock of rental homes has a higher concentration of ownership (owners with more than three homes have 51.4% of the total number of rental homes) than the general stock, where this type of owners have 30.6% of the total stock. A similar story can be found through an analysis of homes in the hands of legal persons, which have much more weight in the rental stock (35.5%) than in the city’s housing stock (15.1%).

In terms of types of owners, legal persons predominate as 77.3% of homes belong to owners of multiple properties. The 12,893 publicly owned homes represent 1.7% of the overall stock of homes, equating to 4.4% of the main stock of regular rental homes in the city. These publicly owned homes account for larger volumes in neighbourhoods in the outskirts and much of the district of Ciutat Vella, reaching over 20% of all housing in the neighbourhoods of Can Peguera, Torre Baró, Vallbona and Baró de Viver.