Barcelona Mayor pauses 30% social housing mandate reform

Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni has decided to pause a reform of the city's 30% social housing mandate following a breakdown in negotiations with the Junts political group. The original regulation, implemented in September 2018, requires that 30% of new developments and large-scale renovations exceeding 600 square meters be allocated to protected housing.

An assessment of the policy eight years after its inception reveals a significant gap between objectives and results. While municipal sources suggest the measure was intended to provide over 300 affordable homes annually, only 34 protected units—comprising 23 new builds and 11 major renovations—have been produced since 2018. This falls far short of the 2,000 units the City Council estimated should have been constructed.

Collboni stated that while he intends to perfect the measure rather than abolish it, the current proposal has been ‘put in a drawer’ because an agreement with Junts could not be reached.