The Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) in 2030: with more public, affordable and quality housing

Nearly half of Catalonia's population—some 3.4 million people—live concentrated in the Barcelona metropolitan area. This means that the housing market is under considerable strain across the 636 square kilometers of its 36 municipalities. In recent years, housing prices have risen far beyond what most households can afford. The result is clear: more and more families are struggling to access and maintain decent housing.

Faced with this situation, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) has intensified its efforts to address it. Having already promoted the construction of nearly 5,000 social housing units since 2019, it plans to add another 6,000 between now and 2030 through its various metropolitan agencies. In total, by the end of the decade, the metropolitan administration will have promoted the construction of approximately 11,000 public housing units over ten years.

In parallel, it has also focused on rehabilitation: 6,809 homes have been renovated thanks to Next Generation funds. Furthermore, new programs planned—such as the Social Climate Plan and the National Rehabilitation Plan—will allow this number to increase even further in the coming years.

The objective is clear: to strengthen a metropolitan model of affordable, innovative, and high-quality public housing. A system designed to reduce inequalities, reinforce social cohesion, and improve people's daily lives. For the AMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Area), housing is not just a market commodity: it is a social infrastructure that must meet today's needs and last for more than 150 years. All of this must be achieved with criteria of environmental, economic, and social sustainability.

How is public housing built?

To guarantee this, the AMB participates in the entire public housing cycle. It plans land use to generate available properties, promotes new affordable housing developments, builds facilities for municipalities, and assumes housing responsibilities mandated by law or received through agreements or consortiums. It does so primarily through three agencies that coordinate this work.

On one hand, there is the Metropolitan Institute for Land Promotion and Heritage Management (IMPSOL), which is responsible for its own development: urbanizing land, producing plots, and building affordable housing for both purchase and rent. On the other hand, there is Vivienda Metrópolis Barcelona (HMB), the public-private operator that creates affordable rental housing through a joint venture between the AMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Area), the Barcelona City Council, and the private sector. And finally, there is the Metropolitan Housing Consortium (CMH), which promotes building rehabilitation with a comprehensive model developed jointly with the Catalan Government and the municipalities.

Quality, innovative and sustainable housing

IMPSOL is the body that underpins much of the AMB's social housing policy. Between 2019 and 2025, it promoted 3,000 social housing units in various stages, from projects in the planning phase to those under construction or already completed. From now until 2030, it plans to double this capacity by promoting between 500 and 600 units annually until reaching another 3,000.

Its projects are based on a clear idea: public housing must contribute to the city and meet criteria of quality, efficiency, and sustainability. Therefore, they incorporate bioclimatic strategies, cross ventilation, dual orientations, and materials that stabilize interior temperatures. They also prioritize flexible, bright, and non-hierarchical spaces, designed with a gender perspective, and communities that are structured around well-designed courtyards and common areas, which improve comfort and reduce energy consumption.

Metropolitan affordable rent

A decisive part of IMPSOL's recent activity has developed from the protocol that the AMB, the Generalitat and the Ministry of Transport (the current Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda (MIVAU)) signed in December 2020. The agreement set a specific objective: to promote affordable rental housing throughout the territory1).

Since then, the rollout has been steady: in 2021, 327 homes were delivered across eight developments; in 2022, another 300 were built in five municipalities; in 2023, an additional 254 homes were launched, currently in the bidding phase; and in 2024, 265 homes are planned for Hospitalet, Viladecans, and Tiana. Looking ahead to 2025, the agreement has been extended with 243 new homes, and the AMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Area) is already working on a new agreement with the Government to continue this affordable rental housing program.

Vivienda Metrópolis Barcelona (HMB) is the metropolitan operator created to promote affordable rental housing in Barcelona and the surrounding municipalities. It operates as a pioneering public-private partnership, with 50% ownership by the public sector (AMB and Barcelona City Council) and 50% by the private sector (Nicrent Residencial, comprised of Neinor Homes and Cevasa). The objective is ambitious: to build and manage a stock of 4,500 affordable homes—2,250 in Barcelona and 2,250 in the greater metropolitan area—with a planned investment of €600 million. This commitment is deemed necessary by the metropolitan authority in a context where only 1.8% of the territory's housing stock is social rental, far from the 15% recommended by the Right to Housing Act.

To this end, HMB is already working on 1,964 homes in various stages of development, from project planning to construction underway. Its participation in the Generalitat's 50,000 Home Plan would allow for a reduction of up to 18 percent in the final cost for families—thanks to lower rental prices and associated expenses—while maintaining the social focus for which the plan was created. The new developments incorporate high-quality architecture, flexible uses, universal accessibility, and urban resilience criteria, as well as a comprehensive approach to the building lifecycle and energy efficiency. All of this is aimed at a clear objective: to curb rising prices and strengthen the public response to the housing emergency.