Keys handed over to Block A at Illa Glòries, the city’s largest public housing development

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.

Housing. Block A at Illa Glòries adds 51 protected homes with affordable rents, social rents and emergency homes, another step to boost the city’s affordable housing stock.

A ceremony was held on Saturday to hand over the keys to Block A at Illa Glòries, with 51 flats: 30 with affordable rents, 16 with social rents and 5 for the emergency board. This is the second part of the city’s largest public housing project following the 60 in Block B, handed over to tenants in July.

Promoted by the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation (IMHAB), the development involved an overall investment of 44 million euros, with a subsidy of 2.6 million form the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda. This building brings the number of protected public homes in the city to have been handed over in this term of office to 1,605.

During the ceremony, the Mayor, Jaume Collboni, affirmed that Illa Glòries is “the icon of the City Council’s housing policy, which forms part of a grand strategy to guarantee the right to stay in the city”.

Some of the 30 affordable homes in Block A have been reserved for the under-35s, local people, single-parent families and people with reduced mobility, with the rest for the general public. Rents range from 418 euros to 725 euros a month, depending on the surface area of the flats. In the case of the 16 homes with social rents, the price cannot exceed 30% of the household’s income.

A leading development in public housing

Illa Glòries is the biggest public housing development in Barcelona, with four blocks totalling 238 homes: 72 with affordable rents, 16 with social rents, 113 with leaseholds, 5 for the emergency housing board and the rest for people affected by urban planning expropriations.

Blocks C and D, mainly with leaseholds (113 homes) and 14 flats with affordable rents, will gradually be handed over in the first quarter of 2026. When the building is fully inhabited, Illa Glòries will be home to over 800 people.

The development includes flats with one, two and three bedrooms, 11 adapted homes for people with reduced mobility, 14 commercial premises on the ground floor and a car park for 112 vehicles and 282 bicycles.

Draw and backing for public housing

The homes at Illa Glòries were awarded through a public draw among people on the Barcelona register of applicants for officially protected housing. The draw was held on 15 May, with 11,243 households taking part: 2,924 applying for affordable rents, 6,047 for social rents and 2,272 for leaseholds.

The development is part of the Pla Viure, through which the City Council aims to increase and speed up the construction of protected housing. The aim is to hand over a further 1,500 public homes before the end of this term of office, on top of the 5,000 under way, and prepare sites for another 10,000 homes to bring the public housing stock to 15,000 homes in 2027 and maintain a rhythm of 1,000 new protected homes every year.