Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

The Official Credit Institute (ICO) and the Catalan Finance Institute (ICF) are to open up a credit line for 140 million euros, allowing foundations and cooperatives to build and renovate 1,000 flats for social housing and co-housing projects on municipally owned sites in a maximum period of ten years.

The funding will cover the entire cost of projects, taking into account taxes and not including the land. As a rough guide, in 2022 the threshold will be 120,000 euros per flat. Organisations will be able to return the sum over a period of up to 30 years.

Projects wishing to access this credit must be: environmentally sustainable, use building materials which pollute very little, have a maximum energy efficiency rating and offer below-market rental prices.

Boost for the third sector, cooperatives and public housing

The deal is very significant for the magnitude of the sum involved, establishing public-private collaboration which guarantees:

• Public ownership of land
• Boost for rents and co-housing
• Support for non-profit operators, helping them get access to funding.