Participation in an international workshop

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Dr. Héctor Simón took part as a speaker in the “EU Economic Governance and the Charter of Fundamental Rights” Workshop with the topic foreclosures and so-called non-performing loans. The Workshop took place on Friday, October 26th, at the headquarters of Open Society foundations in Brussels, in the framework of a project that aims to analyze the way in which the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union can influence the ordinary functioning of European institutions, like the European Central Bank.

The UNESCO Housing Chair in the Barcelona Meeting Point (BMP) 2018

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Gemma Caballé Fabra,  PhD student of the UNESCO Housing Chair,  attended the Barcelona Meeting Point 2018 on October 25 and 26, 2018 to learn about the new trends in real estate sector, especially in the field of “proptech”, which includes topics such as home automation, smartcontracts,  blockchain, online real estate agencies, etc. One of the conclusions from this congress is the growing importance of technology in real estate sector.

On the other hand, Laura Lopez, Director of the Foundation “Mutua de Propietarios” also presented at the same congress the study carried out with the UNESCO Housing Chair on the accessibility of Spanish homes.

At the ENHR coordination committee in Athens

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Prof. Sergio Nasarre has participated in the biannual meeting of the Coordination Committee of the European Network for Housing Research (ENHR), the largest network of housing researchers in Europe. The meeting took place in Athens on October 26 and 27, 2018. At the meeting, Prof. Nasarre presented the first proposal of new statutes of the international organization and discussed the details of the international congress to be held in that city in August 2019.

Visiting the Dublin’s Science Gallery

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The Director of the UNESCO Chair of Housing has been visiting, together with Region of Knowledge, the Science Gallery of Dublin to develop at the local level a knowledge transfer project from the Rovira i Virgili University and the Research Institutes. Prof. Nasarre and Mr. Ferrer have had the opportunity to meet with several persons in charge of this service of Trinity College where they have verified the type of organization and the success of this innovative system of explanation of science to the citizens.

Publication of the book “A new legal regime of urban leases for Catalonia to facilitate access to housing”

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Prof. Dr. Sergio Nasarre Aznar, Dr. Héctor Simón Moreno and Dr. Elga Molina Roig have co-directed the book “Un nou dret d’arrendaments urbans per a Catalunya per a afavorir l’accés a l’habitatge” (Atelier, 2018) (A new legal regime of urban leases for Catalonia to facilitate access to housing), in which other researchers of the Chair have also been involved. This work is the result of seven years studying and comparing the tenancy regimes of the 28 member countries of the European Union, and proposes a model of urban leases based on the one followed by our three neighbouring countries with the highest tenancy rate (Germany, Switzerland and Austria). This model served as the basis for the guidelines of a working group set up by the Secretariat of Housing of the Generalitat of Catalonia during the years 2016 and 2017, and now has the opportunity to support a new legal regime of urban leases that, taking into consideration the interests and the rights of the two parts of the contractual relationship, can facilitate access to this land tenure and make it a real alternative to homeownership.

Prof. Estela Rivas contributes to the book “Financial and Tax Aspects of Real Estate”

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Prof. Estela Rivas has contributed to the book “Financial and Tax Aspects of Real Estate”, led by Prof. Gemma Patón of the University of Castilla-La Mancha (published by Wolters Kluwer). In the chapter entitled “Collaborative economy in the housing sector: participatory real estate financing platforms”, Prof. Rivas analizes real estate crowdfunding.

14th Interdisciplinary Workshop: expropriations, insurance and Human Rights

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On the 16th of October, took place the 14th Interdisciplinary Workshop: expropriations, insurance and human rights. Professor Cristina Argelich of the University of Cádiz participated with the presentation “Defects without virtues of the expropriation system of the Autonomous Community: some lessons from England and Wales; Mr. Àlex Mestre, President of the Catalan Council of Chartered Insurance Professionals with the presentation “The banking-insurance operator in home insurance”; and Professor Héctor Simón Moreno of the URV with the presentation “The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the constitutionalization of private law: a new way to protect the right to housing?”.

TENLAW conference in Malta

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Dr. Rosa M. Garcia Teruel, postdoctoral researcher of the Housing Chair, participated at the TENLAW conference held in La Valletta, Malta, on 11 and 12 October. She presented a paper on the challenges of the rental smart contracts. Dr. Kurt Xerri, visiting researcher of the Chair, was in charge of organising the conferece. Maridalia Rodríguez and Alessandro Dinisi, both doctoral researchers, also presented their pieces of research.

Start of the 6th Edition of the Course on Real Estate Agent and Property Management 2018/2019

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The opening session of the 6th Edition of the Course on Real Estate Agent and Property Management 2018/2019 took place on Saturday, September 29. The Course, which is offered by the URV Foundation, is jointly organized by the UNESCO Housing Chair of Rovira i Virgili University and the College of Real Estate Agent of the Province of Tarragona. The Course enables to practice the profession of real estate agent in accordance with the provisions of Law 18/2007 and Decree 12/2010.

“El Umbral (The Threshold)”, the role-playing game to raise public awareness about homelessness

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The UNESCO Housing Chair has produced an entertaining material to raise public awareness about the causes of homelessness and the role of social entities. The role-playing game took place at the Institut Vidal i Barraquer on 17 September 2018, which allowed high school students to put themselves in the place of people at risk.

The activity is based on the Report “Promoting protection of the right to housing – Homelessness prevention in the context of evictions”, the main researcher of which is Dr. Padraic Kenna (NUI) and that researchers of the Chair co-coordinated

The authors are Jan Gonzalo Iglesia, Jordi De Andrés Cardona and Javier Coca Sánchez; and the illustration, the graphic design and the layout have been done by Neus Sabaté  Barrieras.

https://housing.urv.cat/en/experiencia-el-llindar/