Catalonia makes record purchase of 1,064 homes to expand affordable rental stock

The Catalan government has announced it will acquire 1,064 homes from InmoCaixa for €87.2 million.

President Salvador Illa revealed the record purchase on Wednesday during a conference at Fira Sabadell.

The deal – made through the Catalan Land Institute (Incasòl) – will see the properties permanently added to Catalonia's stock of affordable public rental housing and ensure they keep their official protected housing status.

The properties are located across Catalonia – in Barcelona, Cornellà de Llobregat, L'Hospitalet, Mataró, Montornès del Vallès, Sant Just Desvern, Sentmenat, Sitges, Terrassa, Tordera, Olot, Lleida, Tarragona, and Sabadell.

The government has now bought more than 1,900 units from InmoCaixa following three earlier purchases of 450, 214, and 179 homes.

InmoCaixa is owned by CriteriaCaixa, the investment holding group behind the 'la Caixa' Foundation.

Illa explained that the housing units were on the verge of losing their protected housing designation, and that the government's purchase will ensure current tenants can remain in their homes, paying the same rent.

"This is an investment to expand the stock of public housing and guarantee stability for the people living in these units," he said.

The president stressed that this acquisition – the "largest ever" by the Catalan government – represents another step forward toward the goal of ensuring that 15% of public housing stock remains protected, meaning the units have legally controlled rents and are reserved for eligible residents.

"The government of Catalonia is doing more on housing than any other Autonomous Community in Spain, and we will continue working to deliver the 50,000-home plan," Illa concluded.

Tenants' Union

The Tenants' Union (Sindicat de Llogateres) welcomed the announcement, claiming that they "won a rent strike against the country's largest landlord," who "wanted to privatize hundreds of public apartments."

Nevertheless, they stressed that the "struggle continues" for the roughly 70 families who have been on rent strike for eight months while all the details are clarified and pending complaints are withdrawn.

"We won't stop fighting until it's over," said one of the strikers, Yolanda Mallén.

Aldo Reverte, coordinator of the union's La Caixa Labor Action, emphasized that the strike "has not been called off" while they await full details.

Despite this caution, the organization celebrated that the apartments "remain in public hands" after "eight months of strike and four years of conflict."

According to the information available to the Tenants' Union, the apartments were sold for nearly €82,000 each – about half of what they would have been worth if privatized.

A member of the Tenants’ Union said it is "hard to tell" whether all of the striking tenants’ apartments are included in this purchase, but they are confident that the numbers announced "match" those involved in the protest.

Survey: Housing is top concern

Access to housing is the most pressing issue for people in Catalonia, according to the latest Political Opinion Survey (BOP) conducted by the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO) in October 2025.

The survey shows that nearly one in three respondents (31%) now consider it their top concern – a ten-point increase since before the summer – and far ahead of the second-ranked issue, immigration.

Housing is the top concern across all age groups, with those aged 25 to 34 most likely to see it as the biggest problem (44%).