The Covid-19 crisis has made conditions relating to housing worse, particularly among the most vulnerable, who are bearing the brunt of economic downturn. In addition, property speculation and abusive price hikes in rents pose a threat to guaranteed access to decent and affordable housing, a fundamental right for everybody.

Social uses of housing must prevail over speculative uses, as guaranteeing the right to a home enables other fundamental rights to be assured, such as the right to health, to the family, to personal development and to the city.

This change of paradigm is set out in Barcelona’s ten-point declaration on the right to housing, a document which has been put together by the local administration and thirty city organisations to define the public policies needed to ensure access to housing.

Ten strategic points to stand up for the right to housing

The joint work between the municipal team and city organisations takes the form of a document setting out the strategic lines for tackling the housing emergency, which has been made worse by the Covid-19 crisis. Barcelona’s ten-point declaration on the right to housing places the emphasis on increasing the state budget for housing policies, stopping evictions of vulnerable people, increasing the pool of public rental housing and opting for new models of cooperative public-private housing.

The ten points also highlight the importance of housing becoming a driving force in the economic recovery, developed from the perspective of social justice and helping to drive strategic sustainable sectors which generate quality jobs.

See the full document for the Barcelona ten-point declaration on the right to housing.

New housing project with social rents in L’Eixample

The ten-point document was presented at one of the new housing projects with social rents, at C/ Comte Borrell, 159, where the keys will soon be handed over to the tenants of 35 homes and a new public nursery school is also about to open.