Nou Barris, a district in Barcelona, is currently facing a crisis of evictions, with an alarming rate of one eviction per week until the end of the year. The Housing Union of Nou Barris has raised concerns about this issue, highlighting that they are aware of six scheduled evictions in the district before the Christmas holidays. However, they do not rule out the possibility of more cases emerging or going unnoticed. The union points fingers at banks and vulture funds—specifically Cerberus-Divarian, Blackstone-Anticipa, and SAREB—as the culprits behind these evictions, demanding social rents for all affected families as mandated by law 24/2015.
The first of these six scheduled evictions in Nou Barris is that of a family living in a property owned by the Municipal Institute of Housing of Barcelona (IMHAB), with a scheduled eviction date for this Thursday. Despite this, the Housing Union of Nou Barris emphasizes that there are five more evictions scheduled before the Christmas holidays, almost one per week.
The union points out that „Nou Barris has experienced the highest rent increase in all of Barcelona in the past year“ and highlights that „the majority of evictions particularly affect vulnerable residents, mostly women, of migrant origin, and with dependents,“ as is the case with the scheduled evictions until the end of the year. These evictions mainly target properties owned by banks and vulture funds, specifically two by SAREB, one by Divarian (Cerberus), and another by Anticipa Real Estate (owned by Blackstone).
„When we talk about the housing access problem in Barcelona, we must place responsibility where it belongs. And in this case, the responsible parties have names and surnames: banks and vulture funds that speculate with our homes and force us out of our neighborhoods and the city,“ they affirm.
The Housing Union of Nou Barris also criticizes that „institutional public services are insufficient to respond to these situations“ and therefore call on public administrations to increase „institutional resources to address housing shortages and facilitate direct negotiations with property owners to find real and effective solutions that allow affected families to maintain their homes, neighborhoods, and communities.“
On another note, the Housing Union of Nou Barris denounces several cases of fraud where residents have been deceived: they have paid to have the keys to an apartment, unaware that it was not owned by the individuals who were „renting“ them the property, and subsequently have been reported by the property for occupation, leading to eviction proceedings. The union points out that, coincidentally, these cases involve apartments owned by the same property, Anticipa Real Estate, a subsidiary of the vulture fund Blackstone.
„The mafias take advantage of a racist and speculative rental market, preventing residents of our neighborhoods from having decent housing. Meanwhile, vulture funds act complicitly, evicting families who have no other housing alternatives,“ they assert.
In conclusion, the situation in Nou Barris is dire, with families facing the threat of eviction due to the actions of banks and vulture funds. It is crucial for public institutions to step up and provide adequate resources to address the housing crisis and protect vulnerable residents from being displaced from their homes and communities.