Transparency demanded over public housing rollout
Sara Bailac, spokesperson for Esquerra Republicana (ERC) in the Spanish Senate, has criticised the national government for failing to provide detailed figures on the transfer of former SAREB housing stock to Catalonia’s public rental sector. On 14 September 2026, ERC confirmed that its parliamentary questions had not been fully answered, particularly regarding how many of the approximately 13,000 homes identified in Catalonia under the agreement with the state-owned entity CASA47 have actually been incorporated into the public housing pool. Bailac highlighted that despite the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Spanish Ministry of Housing and the Generalitat de Catalunya on 17 October 2025, no breakdown has been provided by municipality or province, nor information on how many units are vacant, occupied, or awaiting rehabilitation.
"La ciutadania no necessita nous anuncis ni processos d’identificació: necessita saber quan hi haurà habitatges públics disponibles i quants seran.", Sara Bailac, ERC spokesperson
The lack of a public timeline for when these homes will become available has drawn further criticism. ERC insists that identifying assets or proposing land for inclusion in the public reserve is not equivalent to delivering usable social housing.
Local action amid federal opacity
The Catalan Department of Territory has independently acquired 252 homes from large landlords, including SAREB, with a total investment of €28.3 million, according to a 2024 press release from the Generalitat. Of this sum, €18.6 million covered purchase costs and €9.7 million went toward renovation. Recent acquisitions include 48 homes in La Pobla de Segur and 11 in Camprodon, which are now undergoing rehabilitation through joint efforts by local councils and the Agència de l’Habitatge de Catalunya (AHC). These purchases form part of the Pla Impuls 10.000, aimed at expanding affordable rental housing across the region. The department is currently assessing several buildings with potential for over 1,000 additional homes. While the state-level CASA47 framework was launched to manage up to 50,000 ex-SAREB properties nationwide, as announced at the Council of Ministers on 18 April 2023, Catalonia continues to advance its own procurement strategy pending full transparency on the broader transfer.
Primary sources: govern.cat, lamoncloa.gob.es, mivau.gob.es. Reported by laciutat.cat, elnacional.cat, elDiario.es Catalunya, elperiodico.com, elmundo.es, ABC, barna.news, en.ara.cat, es.ara.cat, Esquerra.
