Barcelona City Council has launched the You’ve got the key campaign to let flat owners know about the advantages of registering their flat with the municipal Rented Housing Pool and so promoting a rental market with more affordable prices.
Besides guaranteeing the monthly payments and ensuring the property is maintained, the Housing Pool allows owners of vacant flats to promote a rental market with more affordable prices and to help make Barcelona a fairer city. Such is the case with Josep Antoni Casanova, who signed his first contract as a property owner with the Rented Housing Pool eight years ago.
His flat, in the left part of Eixample, was easy to let but Josep Antoni admits it’s difficult to find stable tenants and maintain any sort of regularity in the contracts, which are very volatile, depending on the period and demand.
After comparing the conditions a private agency was offering him with the Rented Housing Pool, he finally opted for the public service. As he says: “The Pool offers a service with similar characteristics, it makes you feel you are collaborating in a social project and, most of all, you end up getting the same income.”
The Housing Pool, always there for you
He is satisfied with the service offered by the Housing Pool and thinks that, although the rent is below the market average, there are other benefits that make up for it.
“Without going into the social aspect, as a property owner I have peace of mind because I know that the tenant has been vetted seriously and I have the assurance I’ll get paid the rent each month. The Housing Pool staff are always there for you and that’s just as important when the contract is signed as when it is terminated”, he explained.
One of the effects of the property bubble is the rise in rental market prices, which makes access to a decent home even more difficult. Josep Antoni is worried that if we can’t reverse this trend, Barcelona will turn into a city that is “full by day and empty at night”: young people and their families will be forced out if they can’t pay for a flat. So he supports public initiatives over private ones, as the latter “are only aimed at immediate profits”.
Much more than a pool
By means of this service, the City Council acts as a guarantor in rental contracts for flats registered with the Pool. That way the owners have the security that the terms and conditions of the contract will be complied with (as far as payment and maintenance are concerned) and, at the same time, they will be facilitating access to a decent home to cohabitation units and young people between the ages of 18 and 35 who satisfy the social requirements of the Pool.
The advantages the Housing Pool offers include:
- Incentives for renting
- Technical and legal advice on drawing up the contract
- Help with procedures and paperwork
- Renovation subsidies (up to a maximum of €15,000 in exchange for a five-year contract for renting the flat through the Pool)
As regards the renovation subsidies announced recently and managed through the Housing Pool, Josep Antoni sees them as “deferred income for the owner”, as they can be used to carry out some one-off improvements to the flat’s facilities but, in the long run, “they’ll always stay in the flat”.
The Rented Housing Pool has already handled over 660 contracts between owners and tenants, but it offers other advantages too: free technical and legal advice, an insurance service (multi-risk household insurance and legal defence in the event of non-payment), processing the occupancy certificate and/or the energy efficiency certificate, as well as offering information on other subsidies such as Avalloguer (rent guarantee) and renovation grants.
For further information you can consult the Pool webpage on the Housing website and fill in the information request form.