The Town Hall of Barcelona has announced that it will extend the rent-free period for its stock of public housing properties. The Town Hall led by Ada Colau announced on 25 March that it would not collect rental fees for the homes in its public stock during the months of April, May and June to mitigate the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on its tenants. These payments were going to be prorated over the next 18 months.
Now, the Town Hall has decided to extend the term of its initiative until the end of August for all of the rental properties that it manages through the Institut Municipal de l’Habitatge i la Rehabilitació (the ‘Municipal Institute of Housing and Rehabilitation’ or Imhab). This measure will also apply to the commercial premises that it owns – some 400 properties- and to the mortgage repayments on the publicly built flats included in the public stock, in this case, until July, as indicated in a statement. The monthly payments now deferred will be prorated over the following 36 months, between the months of August 2020 and July 2023, both included.
