Strategies for the mobilization of empty homes in the region of Alt Penedès

The problem of the difficulty of accessing housing for a large part of the population, together with the existence of a large number of empty homes, creates a contradiction that sums up very well that well-known phrase “this is not understood … so many people without homes, so many houses without people”. Faced with this situation, and with the desire to guarantee the right to housing, public administrations have been promoting rental exchanges for some time with the aim of managing this stock of vacant homes so that they can be offered at affordable prices affordable In the case of the region of Alt Penedès, the Regional Council manages the Rental Housing Exchange at the level of the entire region, except for the municipalities of Vilafranca del Penedès and Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, which have a local Office of housing with its own housing stock. With the aim of increasing the number of homes in this market, the Diputació de Barcelona commissioned the GMG team to carry out a study for the County Council to define common strategies for all the municipalities in the county . The study, based on an initial diagnosis based on available statistical information and surveys in the various town halls, proposes several ways to try to achieve this goal. From the different possibilities proposed, through a process of participation with technicians and political leaders, several programs were concretized that should encourage a greater number of owners to contribute empty homes to the rental market (greater dissemination of the advantages and guarantees of the stock market, active acquisition of housing, possibilities of rehabilitating buildings in poor condition, etc.). We hope that the coordinated action and the joint effort of all the municipalities in the region will contribute to more people being able to access a home, and that fewer homes will remain unoccupied and deteriorate over time.