Barcelona City Council announced on Tuesday its plan to renew an agreement with non-profit social housing developers to construct an additional 1,500 protected homes between 2027 and 2037. The announcement came during a meeting with representatives from Habicoop, Cohabitac, Xes, and GHS, organisations the council has collaborated with since 2020.
The new ESAL agreement aims to build these homes on municipal land, offered under rental and use-transfer schemes. This follows the success of the initial ESAL agreement, signed in 2020, which is nearing completion and will have created over 1,000 protected homes across 28 sites in the city.
Jordi Valls, Barcelona's Fourth Deputy Mayor for Economy, Housing, Finance, and Tourism, stated that the new agreement will "continue working jointly with non-profit entities to increase the city's protected housing stock." Valls emphasised the need to "involve all possible actors in housing construction to do so as quickly, efficiently, and sustainably as possible," calling the ESAL agreement "one of the fundamental pillars of the council's housing production strategy."
Expanding Social Housing Initiatives
During the meeting, municipal officials presented the framework for the new ESAL agreement and identified the first package of land plots. These plots, located in the districts of Horta-Guinardó, Sant Martí, Sants-Montjuïc, Gràcia, and Les Corts, will be transferred to social entities under surface rights to build 233 homes.
The ESAL agreement involves experienced social housing organisations, including the Social and Solidarity Economy Network (XES), the Federation of Housing Cooperatives of Catalonia (Habicoop), the Coordinator of Social Housing Foundations (Cohabitac), and the Association of Social Housing Policy Managers (GHS).
Progress of the Initial ESAL Agreement
The city council is currently finalising phases IV, V, and VI of the first ESAL agreement, signed in 2020. This initial agreement will result in over 1,000 protected homes on 28 sites throughout Barcelona's neighbourhoods. The council expects to sign the surface rights transfers for the 11 plots in these final three phases during 2026.
Keys have already been handed over for three developments under the first agreement: Sant Martí street, 12-14; Llar Barceloneta on Passeig de Joan de Borbó, 44, both in Ciutat Vella district; and Binèfar street, 26, in Sant Martí district. Another development on Avinguda de Vallcarca, 118, is scheduled for a draw in the coming weeks. All homes in these developments have been allocated through a lottery among individuals registered in Barcelona's Official Protected Housing Applicants Register (RSHPO).
Future Housing Goals
The municipal government's commitment, outlined in the "Pla Viure" (Live Plan), is to guarantee the right to housing and enable residents to stay in Barcelona by increasing the public housing stock. This involves engaging all possible stakeholders. The new ESAL agreement is proposed to strengthen housing promotion through social housing developers, now that the previous 2020 agreement is fully planned and all land plots are in various stages of processing.
