This morning representatives of Valls City Council and the cooperative Sostre Cívic we have presented a new cooperative housing project to the municipality: a newly built building, disused and until then owned by a financial institution, which has been rehabilitated to make it available at cost price to the population of valleys 

The presentation to the media took place in Plaça Jaume I, right in front of the project building. It is a property built in 2009 and just renovated that consists of 15 homes.13 of these are cooperative homes between 39 and 86 m² under the right of use regime and qualified for official protection. The remaining homes and the B scale of the building belong to Valls City Council and the Catalan Housing Agency.

During the press conference, Jordi Cartanyà Benet, first deputy mayor and councilor for Housing and Community Action, Participation and Equality of Valls City Council has highlighted "the importance of having a cooperative housing project like this in Valls, which emphasizes social needs", and explained that in the coming years "cooperative housing will continue to grow because it is a model that respects and guarantees people's right to housing". Likewise, the councilor explained that the Local Housing Office is working to provide the city with affordable housing for people based on the management of leased flats and others owned by the municipality, which in the next months will be increased.

Recover disused assets to guarantee the right to housing 

The homes will be managed under the cooperative housing model in right of use: a model straddling ownership and rental, in which the ownership of the property belongs to the cooperative and the neighbors who are partners participate and enjoy it of one right of indefinite use, transferable and at a stable price. In the case of the Valls project, the housing usage fees are approximately between €230 and €550, and members must make a partially refundable initial contribution of a maximum of €4.200. 

In addition, with the aim of guaranteeing the right to decent housing for the most vulnerable groups that the real estate market leaves out, 5 of the 13 homes will be preferentially allocated to people under 35, single-parent families and over 65. Also 2 of the homes will be managed by the Generalitat's Emergency Board and Valls City Council and will be assigned to the profiles processed by the Social Services department. It is the second project of this type, combining cooperative housing and social services, that exists in Catalonia. Palafrugell was the pioneering experience that was launched just under half a year ago. In this regard, Mandi Domingo, project coordinator, explained that promoting these agreements "we recover private and already built heritage that is in disuse to return housing to its social function from a collective management, with a public and non-speculative vocation".

The total budget for the promotion, including the acquisition and rehabilitation costs, was €1.500.000, financed entirely with a mortgage loan from the Catalan Institute of Finance of the Generalitat de Catalunya and with a subsidy contribution of €60.000 € from Valls City Council. 

Calendar and additions

The campaign to find interested people was presented today, who are expected to be able to move into the building during the month of December this year. The homes they will be allocated preferentially to the population of Valls, although people from other municipalities in Catalonia can also register, who will enter the project in the event that there are vacant homes. For all homes, users must meet official protection requirements.

The registration period for the project opens from today October 5 to November 13, and during the campaign there will be three information sessions and a visit to the building open to all interested people:

• Thursday 13/10 | 17:30 p.m. Informative talk + visit to the building (+ info and registration).
• Tuesday 25/10 | 17 p.m. Online briefing (+ info and registration).
• Tuesday 08/11 | 17 p.m. Online briefing (+ info and registration).