Strategic Plan against CaixaBank

This document provides a brief overview of the initiatives that will be implemented in the fight against CaixaBank, a residential property owner that is engaging in exploitative and speculative practices with our homes.

Context

CaixaBank is currently undergoing a banking restructuring process following its merger with Bankia and has decided to phase out social and affordable housing projects linked to its social welfare programme. Many of the properties affected are part of social housing (VPO) schemes which are coming to an end, and can now be rented out at market rates or sold. In fact, CaixaBank’s routine practice of keeping a number of properties vacant contributes to the wider housing crisis by engaging in stockpiling strategies and withholding properties from the market. Added to these issues are other significant problems, such as tenancy agreements which are riddled with unfair terms, a lack of investment in property maintenance, and the failure to recognize its tenants’ rights of association. To date, an estimated total of 38 housing developments in Catalonia are affected by these issues — an approximate total of 2,700 flats. In addition to this, the situation of tenants who entered into  ‘dación en pago’[1] reposession agreements and social rental programmes during the previous mortgage crisis must be taken into account, as well as those whose tenancy agreements CaixaBank is refusing to renew.

Collective demands:

  1. Automatic renewal of rental leases for a minimum term of seven years, as stipulated by the Urban Letting Act (LAU).
  2. Compliance with and enforcement of Law 1/2022 in cases where CaixaBank is obliged to offer social housing leases despite its legal exemption as a provider of social housing.
  3. A maximum rent for rental leases of 30 per cent of the household’s disposable income.
  4. Removal of all unlawful provisions and unfair terms from lease agreements.
  5. The handover, through municipal agreements, of vacant flats to alleviate Catalonia’s current and significant problems in access to housing.
  6. An investment plan for maintaining the residences and shared areas of CaixaBank’s housing developments to standards fit for habitation.
  7. Recognition of CaixaBank tenants’ rights to association and collective negotiation.
  8. All new housing developments, whether new-build or refurbishment projects, that are classified as social housing to be allocated to a public housing stock as rental properties. The ground-floor premises and commercial units in these developments to be be allocated for community use. Any new social housing developments built on public land shall remain under municipal ownership, with the land transferred on a long-term lease.
  9. An offer to all tenants evicted from Obra Social apartments to return to their homes.

Campaign initiatives:

Research:

  • Identify all the housing developments owned by CaixaBank in Catalonia and establish contact. As of 21 September 2022, the task is to complete the mapping exercise with details of the new developments and find a representative resident to represent each by contributing to a blog.
  • Identify the network of companies used by CaixaBank to develop, manage and own rental properties, as well as the key individuals responsible for its policy as renter and major property owner.
  • Expose the property speculation scheme, namely how CaixaBank has used its Obra Social charity to profit from and participate in speculative practices through Social Housing Schemes.

 

Costs Revenue
Purchase of land Municipal agreement –
Construction Calculation based on assessed value / Actual budget –
Development cost + Construction profits Calculation based on construction cost (x 1.4) –
Interest on loans La Caixa provides the financing, however, 20 percent estimated –
Taxation Regulations (VAT on social housing, land transfer taxes, etc.) –
Grants received – Regulations (decrees) or register of grants
Rent paid – Approximate calculation based on regulations or contracts
Sale at a regulated price – Decrees
Sale at market price – Price per square metre of second-hand housing by municipality
Profit = Revenue – Costs ?

 

We can approach the media for support in this research.

  • Examine rental prices where properties are still classified as social housing (VPO) but where compulsory social rent no longer applies. A document on this subject is available for consultation at the Clínica Jurídica del Derecho al derecho (Legal Advice Centre).
  • Finalize the summary document on subsidies and prices according to legal decrees. Add an analysis of Royal Decree 2006/2008, 2173/2010 and Decree 13/2010.
  • Follow up on the requirement regarding subsidies received from La Caixa housing developments from the Agència de l’Habitatge de Catalunya (Housing Agency of Catalonia – AHC).

On the legal front:

  • In terms of defence: draw up a collective strategy to enable tenants whose leases have expired to continue living in their homes, thereby avoiding legal action. This strategy will be based on the following:
  1. The ‘Nos Quedamos’ strategy and rent withholding.
  2. Law 1/2022, which obliges large property owners to enter into social tenancy agreements under certain circumstances.
  3. A collective complaint against tenancy agreements on the grounds of unfair lease terms.
  • In terms of going on the offensive, specifically, the complaints we will file against CaixaBank:
  1. A collective complaint regarding unfair terms in rental contracts.
  2. Municipal administrative complaints regarding real estate harassment.
  3. Individual civil claims for reimbursement of sums paid in various circumstances, such as excessive charges for shared services, maintenance, and monitoring fees.
  4. A complaint regarding vacant flats will be lodged with both the Secretary for Housing and Social Inclusion and the Síndic de Greuges (the Catalan ombudsman). Before doing so, a register of vacant flats will need to be compiled for each housing development.
  5. Examine the possibility of lodging a complaint about the prices of new rental leases in housing developments built between 2005 and 2008.

On the institutional front:

  • At the local council level:
  1. Table motions at plenary sessions to condemn CaixaBank,
  2. Ensure the local council stands alongside residents in putting pressure on CaixaBank.
  • Across Catalonia:
  1. Call for an inquiry into CaixaBank in the Catalan Parliament,
  2. Call for CaixaBank executives to appear before Parliament to publicly answer for the bank’s actions against its tenants.

In terms of outreach and organization:

  • Second round of delayed projects: prioritizing Lleida and Baix Llobregat.
  • Letters to other housing estates.
  • Each housing development should have a WhatsApp/Telegram group for residents and one resident in the joint Telegram group.
  • Each intake should have a resident in charge of maintaining an excel spreadsheet with contract end dates.

Mobilization:

  • A joint demonstration in Sitges in March–April. A written proposal on how to organize this demonstration needs to be drawn up.

On the communications front:

The communications strategy aims to publicize our key initiatives in the mainstream media, thereby amplifying the public outcry and damaging CaixaBank’s corporate image. The first tasks to be carried out in the short term are:

  • compiling a dossier detailing the status of the blogs and residents (based on the spreadsheet for each block),
  • drawing up a list of talking points,
  • finding a spokesperson for each block who is willing to speak to the press,
  • drawing up a strategic communications document based on the campaign strategy document and an initial proposed timetable,

Timeline

September:

  • Meeting with La Directa and Crítico magazines to discuss what kind of feature they could produce and by when.

October:

  • La Caixa Union Branch meeting
  • Plenary meeting of the campaign against La Caixa
  • Review all the work carried out and the progress made on the strategic plan
  • Class action
  • Communications plan
  • Parliamentary committee

November:

  • Meeting with the Ateneo de Sitges + Garraf + Promocions de Sitges community groups to agree the date of the demonstration and the tasks to be completed

December/January/February:

  • Public awareness campaign: collective complaint, press reports, and appearance before the parliamentary committee, plus a second round of leafleting and letters.

March/April:

  • Motions in local councils
  • Press conference
  • Demonstration

 

[1] Translator’s note: Under a ‘dación en pago’ agreement, the borrower formally relinquishes ownership of their property. In exchange, the lender drops any legal action against them, This settles any outstanding mortgage debt and avoids other punitive foreclosure measures.