The Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation of Barcelona adopts a series of additional measures to halt the expansion of the coronavirus. All housing offices have been closed but the most vulnerable cases are still being dealt with. Therefore, the following departments will remain operational: Housing and unemployment, Prevention, Mediation and Intervention in Public Housing Services and urgent repairs in public housing.

Having suspended all evictions in the city, the Councillor for Housing and the Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation of Barcelona (Institut Municipal de l’Habitatge i Rehabilitació de Barcelona, IMHAB) have adopted a series of measures to prevent the spread of viruses while at the same time guaranteeing the ability to respond to emergencies that may occur over the period and to protect people in vulnerable situations.

The main measures are: closure of all housing offices until further notice, postponement of all face-to-face management activity, suspension of any administrative deadlines in relation to residents’ actions before the IMHAB, as well as housing adjudication procedures and all construction underway.  

All these measures are set out in the Contingency Plan approved by the IMHAB in relation to the Mayor’s decree signed on 15th March, within the framework of Decree 463/2020, of 14th March, which declared the state of emergency due to the Covid-19 virus.

So while this situation lasts, and until further notice, is planned that:

– The Housing Offices for each district as well as the Central Offices of the IMAHB will remain closed to the public.

-The administrative activity of the IMHAB has been halted in terms of procurement administration. This means that, in general, all deadlines for submitting tenders or completing requirements in any type of contracting process, including Cohousing and similar, have been suspended.

-The housing adjudication process has been halted, along with the suspension of the statutory deadlines for allocation and attendance appointments have been postponed until a date yet to be determined.

-The acquisition of dwellings is suspended, therefore the deadlines for exercising compulsory purchase rights by Barcelona City Council are suspended from the time of the Emergency Decree.

-Disciplinary procedures are halted, in the sense that all deadlines for making allegations or issuing decisions within the framework of the various disciplinary proceedings, or of administrative procedures, are suspended and will be restarted when determined the competent authority.

-The construction of new public housing, the renovation of buildings or individual homes and the regular maintenance tasks to the public housing stock managed by the IMHAB are suspended.

However, the provision of services that have been established under the Contingency Plan as being of an essential nature, and which will therefore will continue, are:

-Attendance for urgent repairs and problems with public housing (repair emergencies to your public housing or to the building), can be scheduled between 9 am and 1 pm, by telephoning the following numbers specifically set up for this service: 932 915 404, 932 915 424, 932 918 533 and 932 915 406. Also, online through the IMHAB user area and by email at imhab@imhab.cat.

-For Assistance Services in exceptional and unforeseeable emergency situations, they should be requested via the Citizen Services telephone 010.

You can consult updated information on Covid-19, as well as advice and recommendations to be followed, on the Barcelona City Council and the Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona (Barcelona Public Health Agency) websites.