Som Vivienda, a property owners' association, is born to counterbalance the Renters' Union.

Barcelona"They've stigmatized us, criminalized us." These are the words of Núria Garrido, president of Somos Vivienda-Unió de Propietarios de Catalunya, an association of apartment owners created to counterbalance the Tenants' Union and defend homeowners against housing policies they consider erroneous, favoring and against tenants.

The launch of this association took place this Thursday at the Ateneo de Barcelona, ​​​​in a packed auditorium, with the institutional presence of the Secretary of Housing of the Generalitat, Lídia Guillen, and the Housing Commissioner of the Barcelona City Council, Joan Ramon Riera Alemany, the speakers and the president of the association herself.

As Garrido explained, the association was founded with around 250 members, and brings together both small property owners and legal entities representing larger owners. In any case, she said, the membership fee is low—10 euros for owners of one to five apartments—to facilitate the incorporation of as many owners as possible.

The criticisms from the president of Som Habitatge have focused mainly on the legal uncertainty for owners, especially when filing for eviction, in addition to the rent cap and the imposition of a 30% social housing tax on developers. These policies, she said, drove apartments off the market and did nothing to lower prices. "We must be able to evict, and that doesn't mean leaving vulnerable people on the street, but rather that the administrations must fulfill their obligation to guarantee the right to housing," said Garrido, who gave specific examples of owners who, because their apartment was occupied by tenants who stopped paying, have been forced to not be able to pay their rent.

"It's not normal that there are people who have had one since 2020." worries "Or one occupies and cannot be evicted because there are these [eviction] moratoriums year after year," Garrido complained, adding that the owner in the meantime must take care of the utilities. This situation, he pointed out, has caused an increase in cases of anxiety and depression due to "unfair situations" and that can be prolonged "in a way."

Public welcome

The Generalitat's Housing Secretary welcomed the creation of Som Habitatge. "We celebrate the creation of this association to give a voice to the property owners," she stated. Guillen believes that property owners must be part of the solution to the housing crisis and promised that the Catalan government wants to be an interlocutor for this new organization because "public-private collaboration is essential."

The Barcelona City Council commissioner also welcomed the new association and called for "overcoming" confrontationalism in housing policies. "We must make the leap from confrontation to agreement," said Riera.

In his speech, Garrido questioned the fact that while tenants who have stopped paying rent cannot be evicted, there are penalties of up to €900,000 for property owners for "disagreements with the reference index." He also complained about the mandatory creation of a registry of large property owners and the reserving of 30% of new construction or renovations in Barcelona for officially promoted housing, the increase to 20% of the property transfer tax, and the implementation of an "unprecedented" body of inspectors compared to the rest of the country.

During the presentation of Som Vivienda, two lectures were given by the director of the Association of Property Owners and spokesperson for the entity, Carles Sala, who reviewed the latest decrees and laws passed on housing and defended the role of the owner as "part of the solution"; and by Sergio Nasarre, a doctor of civil law and founder of the UNESCO Chair in Housing, who made a fierce defense of the right to property.