Almost a hundred people registered for the opening day of the new official protection homes of the development located at Via Augusta 401-403, constructed by the Municipal Housing and Rehabilitation Institute (IMHAB). Among the visitors there were awardees of the housing developments, who wanted to see the flats where they will live from now on, along with residents of the district and the city who wanted to get to know at first hand the building and the housing developments being carried out by the Barcelona City Council.
This development will include homes reserved for various social groups, such as young people, single-parent families or neighbours of the district. Enric Garcia is one of the awardees: he entered the draw as a neighbour of Sarrià and is especially happy to be able to continue living in the same district, but he also values the fact that the flats are addressed to all types of social groups. “Everything that helps is very welcome, both for the people of the neighbourhood and for those from outside. In this, we’re all in the same boat,” he says. Enric and the rest of the neighbours will sign their contracts in the coming days, and in December they will be able to move into what will be their homes from now on. “We’re very happy and excited, it’s a great help with today’s prices and everything that’s going on. We’re very happy, and especially that something like this can happen this year,” says this new resident of the public housing stock.
The development located at Via Augusta 401-403, in the Sarrià district, is the first of the four new developments and of the more than 100 homes the Barcelona City Council will deliver this month. It contains 13 homes, 13 storerooms and 9 parking places, all at affordable rents. The building is distributed into a parking basement, ground floor and four upper floors. Of the 13 flats, 5 have 75 square metres and 3 bedrooms and 8 have 55 square metres and 2 bedrooms.
During the open day, a guide explained to the registered persons the principal characteristics of the building, particularly the façade overlooking Via Augusta, which has overhanging balconies with some external panels to protect the residents’ privacy and deaden the noise from the street. He also highlighted the reduction of emissions and the energy saving rating, since it has an aerothermal installation which produces hot water and drives the heating, along with a hygro-regulated ventilation system. He also pointed out that the area is well connected with the rest of the city by public transport, and that close at hand it has educational and medical centres and green spaces like the Collserola Hills. The investment for the construction of this development has amounted to some 1.8 million euros.
Protected housing, a priority
In recent years, the Barcelona City Council, by way of its Municipal Housing and Rehabilitation Institute (IMHAB), has been working to enlarge the city’s public housing stock as a measure for guaranteeing the right to decent housing. Since the year 2015 it has set in motion the construction of almost 8,000 flats, and the Council now has 73 active developments, 18 of which are completed, 24 are under construction, 25 are in the planning process and 6 are in the land reservation stage. In the coming weeks and months, four of these new completed developments will be handed over to 109 family or cohabitation units, that is, approximately 270 persons.
The Mayoress of Barcelona, Ada Colau, who has visited the Via Augusta development, has emphasised that these developments which are now being delivered form part of the City Council’s commitment to enlarge a public housing stock which in the year 2015 was only 1%; and she has recalled that the Council is the administration that has invested most in the construction of protected housing, which has to respond to the needs of everyone: neighbours, senior citizens, young people or persons in a situation of housing emergency. For this reason, she has said, each development has homes reserved for these social groups.
During the coming weeks, the keys will also be handed over of the developments located at Carrer Comte Borrell 159 (Espai Germanetes), Carrer d’Alí Bei and Carrer de Cal Cisó, which total 109 affordable-rent and social rental homes and with services for senior citizens. The municipal investment for these developments has amounted to some 17.5 million euros.