Residents of Raval complain that the City Council has tripled their social rent

Barcelona"Now I have to choose between paying social rent or eating." Rita González is a single-parent mother who lives with her two daughters in a blog owned by Barcelona City Council, in the Raval neighborhood, and says that social rent is "suffocating" her. They have the status of a vulnerable family and a subsidized rent for which until a few months ago they paid 120 euros a month. But since January of last year, she explains, the fees have increased to reach 500 euros. "Without any warning, without any explanation," she insists.

Like her, three families from her same blog, on Calle Santa Elena, and several members of the Raval Rebel neighborhood collective have publicly denounced this Friday what they call disproportionate increases in this type of rent by the council "without any prior notice." The problem, they explain, affects several families in this building and they advance that it could also be affecting other vulnerable people who live on social rent in the Catalan capital.

The affected residents and members of the social movement have turned up this morning at the headquarters of the Barcelona Municipal Housing Institute (IMHAB) to demand explanations for what they describe as "totally irregular increases." "We have gone through instances, paperwork, bureaucracy and in the end we have come here directly, making a protest to be able to speak to someone," argues González, who assures that since last June the residents have presented several instances and appeals, accompanied by Raval Rebel, and that until now they had not received any response from the administration. After a one-hour meeting with the management of the IMHAB, González has explained that those responsible for the organization have "committed to review" their cases and will hold a second meeting in mid-March.

The City Council assures that the amounts comply with the law

"The City Council also acts as a major holder," criticises Raval Rebel, and accuses the council of making "propaganda" with the purchase of Casa Orsola while "blatantly violating rights in cases where the City Council itself is the owner."

For their part, municipal sources explain to ARA that the council is analysing the cases. They detail that the situation of the recipients of social rental flats is officially reviewed every two years to check that the conditions of vulnerability have not changed and to update, where appropriate, the amounts. But they emphasise that "a prior notice is always given" three months in advance and, in fact, a whole bureaucratic process is set in motion in which it is necessary for families to once again prove several documents. If the family situation has changed, then the amount of the rent is adjusted, which according to the City Council "can never exceed 30% of the total income of the tenants." Therefore, if there is an increase in social rent it can only be due to an increase in household income or a formal error.

In the case of the block on Calle Santa Elena, the City Council assures that the files were already reviewed in November and that the rent amounts are in line with the income documents available to the families. Municipal sources also confirm that "the notices were given three months in advance and last autumn they were given a detailed explanation of how the rents had been calculated based on the proven income." An exercise, say the municipal sources, that will be repeated at the meeting in March. "Likewise, in the event of an unforeseen situation, if the application could not be formalised on time or all the documentation could not be provided, the proof of income and the application for aid can be made at any time," concludes the City Council.