Salvador Illa’s Government of Catalonia (the Generalitat) has acquired, for an amount of 72 million euros, a total of 743 homes from DIVARIAN, the real estate company that was created by BBVA together with Cerberus, an American investment fund and one of the largest housing holders in Catalonia and Spain.
These 743 homes are “toxic” assets, that is, they come from foreclosure proceedings that BBVA (like other large banks) was accumulating until it sold them en bloc to the Cerberus fund. Now the Catalan Government has bought them by exercising the so-called “right of first refusal and withdrawal“, which gives preference to the Administration and, only in the event that it is not interested in acquiring the assets, they go to the free market.
These homes are home to families who, in many cases, have previously been subject to eviction proceedings. Through the social programme ‘Reallotgem‘, the Generalitat pays the rent directly to this large housing holders and thus ensures that the families can continue to enjoy the same affordable rent.
It should be remembered that all large housing holders (in Catalonia, any person or company owning more than 5 residential properties in areas declared “stressed”) who decide to sell the homes they bought in foreclosure proceedings, are required by law to first offer their purchase to the Generalitat for a price assessed in application of the right of first refusal and withdrawal before going to the free market.
The Catalan Minister for Housing, Sílvia Paneque, has indicated with satisfaction that the price paid by the Catalan Administration for those homes (72 million euros) is clearly lower than their free market value.
The newly acquired homes are distributed throughout Catalonia, although the following areas stand out in terms of volume:
• 187 in Barcelonès
• 192 in Vallès Occidental
• 60 in Vallès Oriental
• 55 in Camp de Tarragona
• 43 in Catalunya Central
• 54 in Girona
• 59 in Lleida
• 22 in Maresme
This agreement represents the largest purchase of housing by the Catalan Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, and is part of the Catalan government’s programme to reach the figure of 50,000 additional public housing units for affordable rental by 2030, a programme with a budget of 1.1 billion euros per year. Currently, the social rental housing stock in Catalonia accounts for 1.7% of the total, and the Generalitat has set itself the goal of reaching 15%.
