Without new funding there will be no housing policy

The new political season will begin with many pending tasks. But there is one that stands out for its social and economic significance: housing. It is a central concern for many young people who cannot become independent, for families who dedicate an increasing part of their income to rent or mortgage, and for companies that have difficulty attracting talent.The debate usually focuses on rent caps, tourist apartments, or large landlords. These are very relevant issues, but we often forget a more fundamental one: there is a shortage of housing in Catalonia.Between 2021 and 2025, a demand for more than 200,000 new homes was generated, while just over 60,000 were completed. The accumulated deficit exceeds 140,000 homes in five years. Currently, Catalonia builds around 14,000 annually, when the needs are between 30,000 and 35,000. We cover less than half. The difference compared to other European countries lies in planning, execution capacity, and resources.This insufficiency is compounded by demographic reality. In 2024, Catalonia registered an external migratory balance of over 129,000 people. Immigration has a overwhelmingly positive impact: it provides workers, entrepreneurship, and contributions, and helps sustain an aging society. In Catalonia, no one is superfluous, but it is essential to plan and adequately manage flows. We cannot accommodate one of the highest migratory growths in Europe without adapting housing, infrastructure, and public services accordingly.

Reversing this situation requires mobilizing land, streamlining permits, promoting public initiatives and public-private collaborations, rehabilitating neighborhoods, expanding affordable rentals, and providing stability for private investment. It also demands better mobility: being able to live outside major urban centers and reach work quickly and reliably would reduce pressure on the most strained areas.For decades we have built the welfare state on health, education, and social protection. Today, housing has become the fourth pillar. But building affordable housing, expanding public housing stock, or rehabilitating neighborhoods requires billions of sustained investment. These resources cannot come from cutting schools, hospitals, or resources for industrial policy. Catalonia needs to be able to do both.This is why the coming months will be decisive. The partial forgiveness of the FLA has just passed its first debate in Congress thanks to the votes of Esquerra and Junts, which allowed the amendments of the PP and Vox to be rejected. If approved, it will reduce the debt of the Generalitat by more than 17 billion euros and alleviate its financial burden.On July 29, the Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy will debate the new financing model. Despite the State's attempts, once again, to introduce new funds at the last minute to dilute the results, a proposal is maintained that would bring Catalonia an additional 4,686 million euros annually from 2027 onwards.

Evidently, it is not the fiscal pact nor the objective of collecting and managing the entire IRPF. Nor does it resolve the fiscal deficit: the 4,686 million only correct a part of it. It is understandable that it is considered insufficient. But an insufficient step is not dispensable. Not approving it would not bring us closer to the fiscal pact; it would keep us in an outdated model that strongly limits public services and the capacity of the Generalitat.Catalonia must also ask itself why an important part of the population still does not relate the shortcomings of the welfare state, infrastructure, and investment with the global economic relationship we maintain with the State. Explaining this connection better is essential.Resistance will be significant. The State's inertia makes any reform that reduces Catalonia's fiscal transfers difficult, especially if it has been negotiated with the independence movement. The current parliamentary arithmetic opens a window of opportunity that may soon close. It must be seized and work must continue to achieve more ambitious goals.The new funding is not the end point, but it is an essential tool. The housing emergency is not just an urbanistic or regulatory problem: it is also a problem of financial capacity. Without more resources, we will not be able to build a housing policy commensurate with the country's needs.