1,500 Public Homes via Surface Rights Agreement

The Barcelona City Council has signed a pioneering agreement with Spain’s two largest trade unions, CCOO and UGT, to deliver 1,500 publicly owned homes over the next 10 years. The deal, announced on Monday 14 September 2026, will use the legal mechanism of surface rights, a hybrid between renting and buying, to make housing affordable while retaining public ownership. Under the arrangement, beneficiaries will occupy the homes for 75 years, paying monthly instalments equivalent to affordable rent. These payments will be structured as a mortgage, capped at 35% of household income. After 75 years, the properties will revert to the city’s public rental housing stock. The homes will be allocated by lottery among applicants registered in the Barcelona Register of Applicants for Officially Protected Housing (RSHPO), regardless of union membership.

We need everyone who can promote protected housing to do so.

First 179 Homes to Begin This Year

Three municipal plots will be transferred in 2026 for the first phase of construction, totalling 179 homes. The sites are:

  • Pg. Havana, 10 (Sant Andreu) – 47 homes
  • Ptge. Marquès de Castellbell, 1-5 (Horta-Guinardó) – 97 homes
  • Palamós, 62 (Trinitat Nova) – 35 homes

The city aims to assign these plots before the end of 2026. Future developments will focus on expanding areas such as La Sagrera, La Marina, and 22@. The unions will oversee construction by selecting social developers or cooperatives, or through their own subsidiaries. Neither CCOO nor UGT will profit financially but will help expand affordable housing.

Pla Viure Expands with Union Partnership

This agreement forms part of the city’s Pla Viure (Living Plan), which aims to maximise the number of actors building public housing. It joins existing partnerships with Incasòl, the Zona Franca Consortium, and the ESAL agreement, a scheme with third-sector entities that has already secured 1,000 homes, with another 1,500 in negotiation. Mayor Jaume Collboni stated the city is on track to build around 1,000 public homes annually, exceeding that target by 2027. The new union-led initiative adds 1,500 more units to the city’s pipeline.

This plan will coexist with the second call for the ESAL agreement so that non-profit entities can access plots of land to build another 1,500 apartments.

Opposition Voices Skepticism

Opposition parties have responded cautiously. Jordi Martí Galbis of Junts called housing Collboni’s "main failure", while Daniel Sirera of PP dismissed the announcement as a "false announcement" given long-standing unused plots. The Comuns argued that delivering 1,500 homes over 10 years amounts to a "lost mandate" on housing, citing a reported 50% cut in municipal investment for public housing. ERC’s Jordi Castellana welcomed the agreement but questioned its timing, suggesting it signals the approach of election season: "Announcements that arrive at the end of the mandate will be ineffective." Residents seeking affordable housing can register with the Barcelona Housing Agency to join the RSHPO waiting list.

Primary sources: barcelona.cat, ajuntament.barcelona.cat, Barcelona City Council, noticies.tmb.cat. Reported by beteve.cat, en.ara.cat, elperiodico.com, elnacional.cat, hospital.vallhebron.com, betevé.