Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

The latest study by the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory (O-HB) on the physical and energy efficiency conditions of the city’s housing stock notes that 85% of building renovations would be feasible and able to be subsidised with European Next Generation funding.

The goal of the study was to create a database with geolocatable data giving all available information on the housing stock and its potential for improvement, as well as to examine the feasibility of applying for renovation subsidies from the EU’s Next Generation funds. The study brings together information from previous works and adds new data through an energy simulation, enabling important conclusions to be drawn.

Ageing residential housing stock

Some 90% of buildings in the city were built before the implementation of the different energy regulations. The analysis shows that some 81% of properties would gain an energy rating of E or lower. In this situation, maintaining multi-family buildings with comfortable temperatures would cost 196 euros a month on average.

Risk of energy poverty

In 25% of homes studied, the energy bill represents more than 10% of the household income, the established threshold for energy poverty. In this respect, the study found that all the areas with a severe or moderate risk of energy poverty fall within the areas covered by the Neighbourhood Plan, and consequently have access to subsidies for energy renovation work.

Reduction of energy consumption

According to the report, changes to the thermal insulation of entire buildings would be the most cost-effective strategy. If these were to go ahead, 93% of the buildings in the city would gain energy ratings of D or higher.