Barcelona warns that the Generalitat’s anti-eviction plan does not work

The announcement was made by ‘Minister’ of Social Rights, Violant Cervera, at the end of July. The Generalitat put on the table 20 million euros to temporarily pay the rentals to vulnerable families with an eviction order marked in the next 30 days and with a favorable report from the emergency table. This was the most relevant measure of the expansion of the regional program Reallotgem driven by ‘counseling’ to face the housing emergency. Three months after the announcement of the new measure, from the anti-eviction office of the Barcelona City Council they point out that this does not work and that the vast majority of cases are left out, and provide data. According to the numbers of the consistory, of the 400 evictions of which the Barcelona anti-eviction office has been aware between September 13 and November 3 only 68 passed all the filters to qualify for the plan, of which only finally they have only managed 17 agreements.

The Councilor for Housing of Barcelona, ​​Lucía Martín, considers that the main error of the program is that it is designed from a distance and has requested by letter this Monday the secretary of housing of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Carles Sala, that I modify it to “make it useful”. In Martín’s eyes, the first big hurdle is being that the great owners, that account for 50% of evictions in the city, They are not wanting to sign the framework agreement, which would force them to offer vulnerable families rental contracts for 7 years. “It is essential that the law is being processed in the Parliament force large landlords to offer social rent vulnerable families if we want them to be jointly responsible in solving the housing emergency “, the councilor underlines.

In the same line it is pronounced Lucía Delgado, PAH spokesperson, entity that was never convinced by this measure. “We do not like it. It means transfer money from everyone they evict, because you can only access it once you already have the eviction date“, emphasizes the activist. It is for this reason that, in line with what is stated Martin, Delgado insists on the need to oblige to make those social rents without any compensation in the future law, now amended by JxCat. “That is the spirit of the 24/2015, that of the social function of housing over the right to private property. From the PAHs catalanas we are angry and perplexed. JxCat registered a text in the Parliament that was made its own and that would allow signing more than 4,000 social rental contracts and now they have amended their own text by putting on the table to compensate the large property owners who evict, breaking the essence of the law. Instead of forcing large landowners to make social rents, they propose to pay them, in the same logic of Reallotgem 2, which is also not working. That money would have to go to real smallholders, “continues the PAH spokesperson, who remembers that they agreed with the previous ‘councilor’ that the first law to be approved by the new Parliament would be anti-evictions. “They want to checkbook hit what they haven’t done for years with policies, “ditch Delgado.

Configuration error

Related news

Beyond the no obligation for large owners to accept the money put on the table by the Generalitat, Councilor Martín points out another problem: the obligation to have an eviction order for the next 30 days to enter, done that has left out the cases that have benefited from the state moratorium. “It is necessary to facilitate entry into the program Reallotgem 2 before the first defaults, especially when it comes to small owners, thus launching the preventive mediation, and reaching an agreement before the judicial process begins or before there is a date for the eviction, as long as they are families in situation of vulnerability“, concludes Martin.

This newspaper has requested the Catalan Housing Agency data on the total of contracts closed in the framework of the extension of the Reallotgem program, but for the moment they have not been provided.