Barcelona City Council has started work on the creation of a rental price index for the city. The index must act as a reference for the evolution of property prices and prevent price increases within the market, a trend that hampers the efforts of many families to access decent housing at an affordable price in the city.
The city government has met with the main representatives of the rental sector, both from business and professional fields, as well as representatives of the civil society to debate the features of the new index.
“The index must not be drawn up solely by the local authorities”, asserted the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau. She added: “The index must involve all parties, who can contribute by providing data and can also collaborate with the survey of vacant properties”.
Thus, social organisations, digital platforms and professional associations will also form part of the the Technical Committee at the Metropolitan Housing Observatory, the organism tasked with creating the price index for the metropolitan area. The goal is to ensure maximum participation of stakeholders involved in public housing policies and the private housing market.
Housing, a priority for the city government
The Mayor- of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has reasserted that the City Council considers housing policy as a maximum priority. “We are striving and sparing no effort to create our own pool of housing and we are willing to do anything necessary to make it happen”, asserted Colau.
Amongst the initiatives implemented by Barcelona City Council, aid for paying rent has been doubled and legal protection and payment guarantee measures have been boosted, as have housing renovation subsidies for small-scale owners who include their properties in the pool of rental properties in Barcelona.
“Despite sparing no effort, the specific circumstances in Barcelona have forced us to look further afield and consider measures like those taken in Berlin or Paris”. These cities already have price guidelines based on pre-defined reference indexes.
The aim is therefore to establish an indicator that takes into consideration the location and size of properties, state of repair and previous rental agreements.
“An indicator that makes it possible to guide price increases without preventing prices from growing at a reasonable and balanced rate”, explains Javier Burón, Housing Manager at Barcelona City Council.
A commitment by all
Meanwhile, the Councillor for Housing, Josep Maria Montaner, has emphasised the need for a sector-wide agreement and commitment in terms of housing quality.
Colau met with representatives from Habitaclia, Airbnb, Yaencontre, Idealista, the Catalan Housing Development Association, the Senior Council of the College of Architects of Spain, the Catalan Round Table of Third Social Sector Organisations, the Catalan Association of Architects, the College of Licensed Property Administrators of Barcelona and Lleida, the Catalan Social Housing Managers and members of API.
Also in attendance at the meeting were a representative from the Area of Social Rights, Laia Ortiz, the Councillor for Housing, Josep Maria Montaner, the Housing Manager, Javier Burón, the manager of the Municipal Housing Trust of Barcelona, Àngels Mira and representatives of Barcelona Regional, and the Metropolitan Housing Observatory.
All attendees at the gathering agreed that joint efforts are needed to reverse the current tension between rental prices and salaries, which represents a risk of permanent residents being driven out by temporary visitors to the city.