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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.​

The fight for the right to housing marks the start of the Barcelona Cooperative Housing Forum

27/11/2022 - 21:47

Housing. Last Thursday, Lucía Martín led the opening debate of the Forum, which took place from November 25 to 27 in Barcelona, with cooperative housing in the cession of use as the main protagonist.

The Palau Robert in Barcelona hosted, last Thursday afternoon, November 24, the start of the Cooperative Housing Forum, whose slogan was “The cooperative way for the right to housing“. An event that took place from November 25 to 27 at the Ciutadella campus of the UPF and that had, as the epicenter of the debate, the cooperative housing in the transfer of use, a model that is progressively consolidating successfully in the city of Barcelona.

The opening debate, before the celebration of the three days that took place from Friday to Sunday, was attended by the Councilor for Housing and Rehabilitation of the Barcelona City Council, Lucía Martín. She was joined by the representative of the Catalan Tenants Union, Carme Arcarazo; the member of Coop57 and the cooperative housing movement, Maritza Buitrago; the president of the Metropolitan Housing Observatory of Barcelona, Carme Trilla; and the Executive Secretary of Condominiums, Ministry of Housing and Urbanism of Chile, Doris González.

All of them contributed their vision and experience to shape a story that had the right to decent and affordable housing as the spearhead of the debate. In this sense, the fight against the housing emergency and the regulation of the private housing market were some of the topics most analyzed by the speakers, who also emphasized the great importance of strengthening the public housing stock in Barcelona.

“There is still a long way to go, but once we finish the projected housing, in 2025, we will have doubled the public park that we found in 2015”, highlights Lucía Martín, who also listed and explained the different strategies that have been applied from the Barcelona City Council to attack, from all sides, a very significant problem in the city.

Faced with this scenario, the cooperative housing model in the cession of use takes importance, which among other advantages, “allows controlling the rental price, and thus face the reality that we have in recent years, where the growth of rental prices is well above the evolution of household incomes”, as highlighted by Carme Trilla.

Thus, this opening debate led to the start of the Forum, which featured various presentations, talks, and activities, as well as visits to cooperative housing projects in coexistence, such as La Borda, La Chalmeta, and Cirerers in the city of Barcelona, and four more located outside the city.

A space to learn about experiences, share good practices, and address current challenges around a model, co-housing, which proposes the recovery of community life with collective ownership and cooperative management of habitat with a democratic and participatory vision.