Barcelona’s push to reform its controversial 30% affordable housing rule is deadlocked in political gridlock with the summer deadline fast approaching.
Barcelona’s high-stakes effort to reform a key housing policy—one that obliges developers to allocate 30% of new housing units to protected (affordable) homes—continues to stall as political negotiations remain deadlocked. While Mayor Jaume Collboni’s administration has its reform proposal ready, a consensus to move it forward is proving elusive, and time is running out to get it passed before summer recess.
From good intentions to poor returns
The controversial law, introduced in 2018 under former mayor Ada Colau, was created with lofty goals: to generate 334 new protected units per year. Yet, in the seven years since, only 23 have materialised, according to Collboni’s government. The deep underperformance has led to near-unanimous agreement among city hall parties that the rule must be reworked—though not everyone agrees on how.
With the exception of Colau’s Comuns party, which defends the policy in its current form, all other council groups—including the PSC, Junts, ERC, PP, and Vox—support either modifying or abolishing the measure. However, consensus on the reform’s structure (and the political will to get it over the line) is lacking.
Collboni turns to Junts for a crucial green light
With Comuns staunchly opposed and ERC stepping back from active negotiations, most of the pressure has fallen on Junts, whose 11 seats are enough to tip the balance in favour of reform. Talks between the PSC and Junts have ramped up in recent weeks, but the socialists ultimately decided not to present the reform to this week’s government commission—meaning there’s no time to bring it before the next Urban Planning Committee.
The main roadblock? Junts is tying its support to a broader housing package that includes:
- A 4% reduction in IBI (property tax)
- Pressure on Sareb to cede 823 real estate assets to the city
- New public subsidies and measures supporting housing affordability
PSC first deputy mayor Laia Bonet, leading the negotiations, has emphasised the importance of confidentiality in the talks. Meanwhile, insiders confirm Junts is awaiting a formal response to its proposals.
What’s in the PSC’s proposed reform?
The current rule applies to new developments and large refurbishments of 600m² or more. Collboni’s proposal would raise that threshold to 1,500m²—reducing its impact and sparing smaller-scale renovations from the requirement.
In addition, the reform would allow developers to meet affordable housing obligations in more flexible ways: by offering units offsite (in neighbouring areas), or by paying a fee to the city instead. The city would then use those funds to expand its own pool of affordable rental housing.
Can it pass before the summer break?
Two scenarios are now on the table. Either the City Council postpones the vote until the July Urban Planning Committee, or it convenes a special session to try and finalise the deal beforehand. The timing is politically significant, as Collboni’s team is keen to go on summer break with the reform package “checked off”.
But Junts isn’t budging without broader concessions. The deadlock reveals an increasingly common pattern in housing politics across Spain: even obvious policy failures are difficult to reform when party interests, ideological fault lines, and short-term calculations collide.
Housing reform caught between politics and brickwork
Collboni’s push to revisit the 30% rule stems from a shared acknowledgement that the policy, in its current form, produces big headlines but little housing. Yet fixing that policy remains subject to a type of realpolitik that can trump policy rationale.
Whether or not the PSC reaches a deal with Junts in the coming weeks, the political cost of delay mounts. On one hand, delaying reform risks frustrating developers and slowing housing delivery. On the other, going around the Comuns coalition partner to work with centre-right Junts and ERC might carry its own consequences.
Barcelona is once again facing a common conundrum: everyone agrees something’s broken, but no one can agree on how to fix it—or who gets the credit.
