Besides boosting public housing in the city, the agreement seeks to foster energy efficiency, urban renewal, climate action and inclusion for social services. It also means the construction of nursery schools, local facilities for young people and the elderly, communal yards and meeting spaces.

In terms of energy efficiency, all the homes will have an energy performance at least 20% superior to the minimum required by Spanish law for residential housing. This means savings equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 70 households.

More homes and more innovative

The eleven projects in the agreement include some of the most innovative housing blocks to be executed in the city to date. One example are the two buildings of 135 pre-fabricated homes made from wood at the former barracks in Sant Andreu. Another is the promotion of 40 temporary APROP homes to be built from recycled shipping containers in the neighbourhood of La Bordeta.

The European public bank plays a key role in the construction of public housing with affordable rents, even more so now. The new deal is part of a package of European measures to tackle the pandemic and comes in addition to the 2017 agreement which helped fund the construction of 1,570 public homes.

The project will help create more than 570 jobs a year during the construction stage.