Tenants of a rental housing development in the Gorg neighbourhood, owned by a fund linked to Deutsche Bank, claim that the properties have serious structural and maintenance deficiencies.
Residents of the Marobert development, located at numbers 510 on Guifré Street and 61-63 on Pi i Maragall Street in Badalona, have raised their voices against what they consider abusive rent and poor living conditions. The residential complex, owned by the investment fund Strain Investments, associated with Deutsche Bank, has accumulated complaints about defects ranging from cracks in the walls to flooding and rat infestations.
“The apartments are made of cardboard,” report local sources, who point out that the structural problems are evident. The cracks in the walls are one of the most visible defects, leading tenants to suspect that the construction does not meet minimum quality standards. Additionally, there are constantly breaking blinds, dampness, and water leaks between floors. “Water fell from the ceiling from the flat above,” recounts a tenant.
The situation worsens in the common areas. Residents warn of a rat infestation, especially in the pool and parking area, where pipe leaks have also been detected, causing sewage to fall on parked vehicles. “It’s all a mess,” they warn. Furthermore, the community gym, designed for about twenty residents, is insufficient, and the air conditioning in the coworking space has not worked for two summers, making it unsustainable during the peak of the metropolitan heatwave.
“It’s madness, nothing can be used,” lament those affected, who claim to have unsuccessfully tried to get the owner to resolve the issues. “If you open a complaint, they don’t respond, we’ve been waiting for some of them for three years, and in the end, you have to solve it on your own because you have to keep living,” explains a resident. The lack of response from the investment fund adds to the opacity in the increase of bills, which tenants have previously reported.
The Marobert development has contracts that residents describe as abusive, and now the defects worsen the living situation. “They completely ignore us,” states one resident, who claims that the community is fed up with waiting for solutions. Meanwhile, tenants are forced to take on basic repairs such as fixing blinds or sealing cracks with their own resources.
The case has highlighted the vulnerability of tenants against large investment funds that, according to residents, do not attend to basic maintenance needs. The situation at Marobert reflects the tension in the rental market in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, where the demand for affordable housing clashes with the quality of some developments.
Residents have announced that they will continue to demand an urgent solution from the property while exploring possible legal avenues to enforce compliance with minimum living conditions. The community hopes that media and neighbourhood pressure will compel Strain Investments to address their demands.
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