93% of evictions in the city halted since the start of the year

During the period from 18 January to 28 February, nine out of ten evictions of vulnerable families have been suspended thanks to the state moratorium on evictions, other existing regulatory mechanisms, mediation from municipal housing services and the efforts of local residents’ movements.

26/03/2021 13:18 h

Ajuntament de Barcelona

 

418 evictions halted

The municipal anti-eviction unit has worked on 450 eviction processes affecting 1,592 people, 37% of them minors. Out of the 418 processes halted, an agreement between both parties was reached in 77% of cases, such as the payment of rental quotas, additional time to enable the home to become part of the affordable rental property pool and other solutions.

In half the cases where evictions were halted, the owner had multiple properties. This shows the importance of having legal tools which oblige joint responsibility to find housing solutions and guarantee the right to housing of many families. These mechanisms also free up public economic and human resources, which can be used to reach agreements with small owners.

Mediation and agreements to avoid evictions

The state moratorium acts as an incentive for small property owners to reach agreements, buying time for professional teams to find a suitable solution and avoid the family having to go through the trauma of eviction. These agreements are one of the main causes for halting evictions and back up the need for obligatory mediation to continue avoiding evictions and reach solutions which benefit all parties.

Because of this, a housing law proposal has been sent to the central government with the aim of maintaining and expanding guarantees offered by the current moratorium for vulnerable families, besides extending the measures until the new housing legislation comes into force.

 

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