Building bridges… or blowing them up? – Diary of Change num.109

No. 109 Building bridges… or blowing them up?

There is a classic film, *The Bridge on the River Kwai*, where the tension revolves around building or destroying a bridge. The story focuses on a paradox: while some build with discipline and conviction, others work in silence to blow it to pieces. The bridge thus becomes more than just infrastructure: it is a metaphor for purpose, coherence —or its absence.

 

Saving all distances, the current moment in the housing market has something of this duality. But with an important nuance: here, in theory, we should all agree that the bridge must be built.

 

In the midst of a complex context like the present one, it is fair to acknowledge when things move in the right direction. Not everything is negative. In fact, in recent weeks, after a year of work and preparation, a relevant development has taken place that could mark a turning point if it is sustained over time.

 

We are referring to the first major tender to promote the construction of social and affordable rental housing. An initiative led by the Government of Catalonia which, in scale and approach, points towards where we have known for years we need to go: generating affordable supply in a significant and sustained way. Because, let’s not kid ourselves, without supply there is no housing policy that works.

 

It is true that the results will not be immediate. This new housing stock will not reach the market for a few years, and it will do so gradually. But it is also true that, for the first time in a long time, a structural, not cyclical, step has been taken. And that, in a sector accustomed to short-term measures, is no small thing.

 

This tender has also had a particularly noteworthy element: the recovery —still incipient— of trust between the public and private sectors. A trust that had been eroding for years and that is essential to execute, manage and grow this affordable housing stock. Without this collaboration, there is simply no possible scale.

 

In short, a bridge has begun to be built. A necessary bridge, still fragile, but essential. A bridge that should grow, consolidate and become increasingly robust over time.

 

And yet, this is where the contradiction appears.

 

Because while part of the administration works to raise this bridge, other areas seem determined to undermine it. Improvised, underdeveloped regulations continue to be approved, often with a reactive rather than strategic intent. Measures that, in many cases, end up generating effects opposite to those they intended to correct.

 

The problem is not only the content of these decisions, but above all the framework they create: distrust, uncertainty and paralysis. The message being sent is confusing: collaboration is requested from the private sector to increase supply, while at the same time conditions are created that hinder that very collaboration. A bridge is built with one hand while with the other its foundations are eroded.

 

We all know that solutions will not be quick. The accumulated deficit is too large and sector inertia too slow. The challenge of the “in the meantime” is probably the most complex to manage. But that does not justify acting without precision.

 

On the contrary. If anything is required in the current moment, it is fine surgery: measures that are carefully designed, assessed, adjusted to reality and aimed at refining, not breaking. Because when one acts with a legislative axe, the risk of doing more harm than good is extremely high.

 

And this is where the question becomes unavoidable: what do they really want?

 

Do they want to build a stable framework that allows for increasing supply and improving access to housing? Or do they want to remain in a dynamic of decisions that generate headlines but do not solve problems?

 

Because if the goal is to move forward, the path seems quite clear: strengthen the bridges that are starting to work, ensure their continuity, and generate trust and coherence in public action.

 

Anything other than this —anything that involves building and, at the same time, undoing— moves us, once again, away from the solutions we have known for so long that we need.

Guifré Homedes | Director General Amat

 

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The Diary of change is an initiative by Amat that emerged in response to the financial crisis that erupted in the summer of 2008 and had a major impact on the real estate market. In that moment of uncertainty, Amat felt the need and conviction to inform its clients, collaborators, and contacts about the events and changes taking place and affecting everyone.