The operation helps gain public housing in a very dense district where land for the construction of affordable housing blocks is difficult to come by. The building consists of a ground floor, an intermediate floor, a first floor and three other floors, with an overall floor space of 1,339 square metres distributed into homes, communal spaces and two premises.

The overall investment is 6.1 million euros, including the renovation work. With the acquisition, the average cost per square metre of housing comes out at €4,920.80, some 21.13% below the average price for the neighbourhood of Antiga Esquerra de L’Eixample, which is €6,239.68.

New right of first refusal by-law

The Full Council approved the new right of first refusal by-law in December, a tool allowing the City Council to get preference in the purchase of properties and gain new housing in densely populated areas with little land available, to enlarge the city’s housing stock. Over 315 homes have been acquired using this method since the by-law was approved determining the area where the right of first refusal applies.

The by-law sets out the criteria through which the City Council can exercise the right of first refusal, synthesised in three concepts: adding more homes to the public housing stock, favouring the social recuperation of homes, preventing gentrification, or in other words, preventing neighbourhood residents from being driven out of their homes.

In the case of whole buildings, the maximum economic threshold may not exceed the average price for property sales recorded in the neighbourhood, taking into consideration the estimated cost of renovation if necessary.

With the new by-law, the City Council can forego the purchase of a property and pass on the right to first refusal, by order or priority, to public promotors or those linked to the administration, to natural persons who legally occupy the property and to private organisations, cooperatives or no-profit entities. Joint purchases are also allowed with these beneficiaries, as long as the City Council retains at least a third of the property.