AI System Aims to Map Vacant Housing
The Generalitat de Catalunya is working with local councils to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) system that identifies empty homes across municipalities. The goal is to mobilise vacant housing into the rental market, according to Jordi Mas, the Generalitat's director general for Housing, in an interview with 3Cat. The Centre Internacional de Mètodes Numèrics a l'Enginyeria (CIMNE) in Lleida has been developing the system for the past two months, commissioned by the regional government.
Data Sources and Methodology
The technological model uses water and electricity consumption data, the municipal register (padró), and on-site information from some town halls to determine if a property is unoccupied. Combining these sources allows for faster and more accurate identification of vacant homes than previous methods. Previously, councils had to send officials for in-person inspections to confirm a property was empty. Under the new regulatory framework, available data can now be used to speed up the process and reduce the need for physical checks.
Future Strategy and Incentives
The Generalitat expects to complete a prevalence map of vacant homes by next year. This tool will give the government and local authorities better insight into the scale of unoccupied housing and help plan future interventions. Mas stated that the focus will be on an 'incentive strategy' to encourage owners to bring properties back into use, rather than imposing sanctions. 'We will achieve better results through incentives than through extreme penalties such as expropriation,' he said. The Generalitat does not support punitive measures for vacant properties and instead plans to contact owners directly to promote re-letting.
Transparency and Oversight
This initiative is part of a broader push by the Generalitat to increase transparency around AI use in public administration. A public register of all AI systems used by the Catalan administration has been launched, as reported by Diarimes.com, and more information on AI applications in governance is available through the Generalitat’s open data portal Local.IA and the official AI information page.
Primary sources: eb.gencat.cat, govern.cat, governobert.diba.cat, atc.gencat.cat. Reported by L'Empordà, Josep Maria Casas, Betevé, CatalunyaPress.es, Marc Guasch Ferreiro, elnacional.cat, diarimes.com, VIA Empresa.
