«The investment fund struggles to speculate; me, for my mother »

• Lazora. Restlessness in a block of flats in Badalona for an "abusive" rise in rent
• Divarian: A fund does not renew rentals to families at risk of exclusion

Juana wants to fight to keep her apartment on Montseny de L'Hospitalet de Llobregat street, affected, like most of the block, by an increase in rent, with no negotiation option. At 58 years old, the tenant with more seniority has a contract until 2021 and faces an increase of 70% : «The investment fund wants us not to accept and to leave to make tourist apartments. Nobody can afford a rent of 1,200 euros here, but it doesn't matter.

With the support of their neighbors and that of other tenants affected in the Barcelona area due to the increased cost required by the Lazora investment fund , Juana and her two children are committed to resist, but do not know how long. «We will continue on our tiny floor if there is a fair, favorable resolution within our reach. If not, we must leave, ”says the woman, who rejects“ the greed and speculation of the fund at the expense of working families. ”

Communicating with Lazora is complicated. They do not usually respond from the email account to which neighbors direct their complaints when they suffer an incident. Sergi Ramos , who is 48 years old, knows a job as a lighting technician, a rental apartment in the same building and a serious problem: his contract also expires in a year and an abusive rise awaits him without the possibility of negotiation. «Between 60% and 80%; that is to say, to pay 400 euros to 850 for a floor of 37 square meters ”, explains the neighbor, who has a banner on the balcony where you can read:« Vulture fund, we are not leaving, enough of abusive climbs ».

Depending on how Lazora acts, Ramos says, he will leave or resist, but is inclined to rely on the law when he receives a notice of eviction. The tenant currently lives with his mother, an elderly lady unable to defend herself against unfair situations. «They fight to speculate; I, for my mother and human capital ”, defends. «I don't have money in the bank to go to another floor. Nor fear to fight. The majority are, like me, without options ».

The Montseny block is one of the five under the coordination of the Llogaters Union . The entity has supported them in sending a burofax that demands collective bargaining with the fund. "I do not ask for a private plane, but to remain in the tiny flat that I am paying for," says Ramos, who remembers that Lazora fund entered his block after buying it from a bank; He offered rents for ten years, and will try to sell the apartments " for annual benefits of 125% , without having manufactured anything, only on the basis of speculation."

The block has 27 homes: half is owned by Lazora , only three are empty and in the majority "there is anguish" because of the rising cost that pushes neighbors to leave or face abusive clauses. «There is helplessness and fear. We are working families with salaries below 1,600 euros. People who spend their holidays in a campsite », summarizes the neighbor.

Another tenant, Emma , is already on the verge of eviction, as her contract ended ten days ago. You have been taught the conditions of the new contract but not the document itself. His only option, he says, is to accept a rise of 768 to 1,220 euros. It is already seen in the street, if nobody prevents it.

Five blocks against the rise in income

Bernardo will leave with his family the block of the Barcelona neighborhood of Clot that Lazora acquired a little over a year ago: «I pay 670 euros and they want to raise me to 1,200, with 950 euros the first two years. I do not want to assume a rise of 80%. Of course I could if I put people in my house, but you wonder if everything you are going to save is going to be invested in the flat so that a fund speculates. He has chosen to move and get mortgaged: «It makes me angry, because we have been renting for a lifetime. But it is where the market takes you ». The increase has deterred two other couples with children, who have already left.

«My idea is to stay. Most of us want to do something because we don't want to leave, ”says Mercedes , housed in a building in Terrassa belonging to Lazora. The lease expires in four months: it would be shot from about 630 euros to 925, to reach 1,130 euros in three years. «I live alone and count only on my salary. If I have something left over, it is for the next month just in case, ”says Mercedes, who synthesizes the claim of the five blocks revealed:“ We request affordable prices according to our standard of living and without abusive clauses or in law fraud ”.

David lives in an official protection promotion in the Sant Gervasi neighborhood that the Barcelonès County Council transferred to the fund. They paid 450 euros at the beginning, then about 600 and now ask 800 to extend the stay. "We ask that the prices of protected housing be respected," he says. Lazora replies that she is authorized to review them since the 10 years of construction were exceeded in 2018. The City Council has requested documentation from residents to examine the case.

David explains that there are homes that have been deserted and that five tenants endure without a contract. Account that a neighbor has received demand to be evicted; It continues to cover the rent that expired, as a sign of willingness to continue on the floor.

In a Badalona property mobilized against the increase in income since October they estimate that a dozen homes have been uninhabited as a result of the fund imposing that the monthly payments valued at 1,084 euros on average escalate to 1,800 or 1,900 in three years. Five families have chosen to remain on the farm after the contracts are terminated. «No one wants to be squatting. We want to pay, but they stop charging you and they don't make it easy for you to sign up, ”notes David.

Lazora called "unfair" the protest and blames the public administration, to which he attributes lack of palliative to housing problems. He defends that he updates the quotas "in line with market prices" and states that he analyzes "case by case", although he does not specify whether he has reduced the offer according to the income of any family.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Barcelona
• living place
• Rental

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