The Consorcio del Barrio de la Mina has approved a new project for the expropriation of the Venus building, in Sant Adrià de Besòs (Barcelonès North), which improves the valuation of the properties and the compensations, and which guarantees housing for all vulnerable families.
As explained on Monday by the Department of Social Rights in a statement, the new project updates, replaces and substantially improves the one approved in 2009 in order to carry out the demolition of the building, with guarantees of rehousing for the families that inhabit it.
The 2009 plan already provided for the demolition of the building, which affects a total of 244 families, and its subsequent relocation, but it implied outlays that a significant part of the neighborhood could not afford. The disagreement led to a long and complex judicial process, which together with the evolution of the economic context and the regulatory changes that have occurred in recent years in terms of housing, urban planning and others, has led the consortium to approve this new project.
The new proposal is part of the Special Plan for the Redevelopment and Improvement of the Barrio de la Mina and includes important improvements, such as the increase in the valuation of homes, which goes from 79,340 euros - three-bedroom apartments - and 98,851 euros - four - to 97,540 and 121,514 respectively. The figure increases due to the decision that the apartment affected by the expropriation be valued at the same market price as those of the surroundings, without taking into account the state of conservation.
For those who are not owners, compensation is established for loss of possession of €6,846 (3-bedroom apartments) or €8,529 (4 rooms), to be discounted from the compensation to the owner of the apartment. Also, the proposal provides for an increase in compensation for transfer expenses, which goes from a range of between 600 to 800 euros to a total of 1,500 for all homes.
The new project opens the door to apply the so-called HAUS decree, which allows the "square meter per square meter" formula to be carried out if a mutual agreement is reached. In other words, if the expropriated apartment and the new apartment have the same square meters, the relocated people will only have to pay the cost of the transfer tax.
The new proposal will give the possibility of shared ownership between the administration and the individual, since the VAT generated is not deductible and must be paid, which means a figure that ranges between 15,000 and 20,000 euros.
The Generalitat will assume the payment of these amounts from the families that cannot afford it and will own the corresponding part of the property, an innovative solution that allows improving the monitoring and retention of the public park, maintains the right of usufruct of the home of the affected and solves the liquidity problem.
To avoid situations of exclusion and under the regulatory deployment that has been approved since 2009 until now, the consortium administrations guarantee housing to all vulnerable families in the Venus block, regardless of the contractual status of their home. In order to rehouse the families in the building, several possibilities are contemplated, such as the recovery of homes in the same neighborhood that are used for social rental owned by the Barrio de la Mina Consortium.
Also, the acquisition of real estate by right of option and withdrawal provided for in the Right to Housing law; the purchase of second-hand apartments or the construction of buildings of official protection, among others.
The expropriation project is the result of the work of the technical office for the rehousing of the families of the Venus building, which was put into operation in June of last year, with the commitment to study case by case and provide personalized and flexible solutions to the 244 families.
