European funds will alleviate the endemic problem of access to affordable housing. This will be the case at least in the regions with the highest rental prices, as is the case of Madrid and Catalonia. This last community plans to expand its social rental park by 18% by adding 10,000 new units until 2026, 40% of which will be paid for with Next Generation EU Funds. The entry of these apartments into the market will only cover a small part of the current demand for protected housing - there are some 94,600 applicants in the community - but it also represents an opportunity for many families, who must meet the requirements that will allow them to qualify for a of new promotions.
Specifically, to date, the construction of 5,300 apartments has been promoted through public aid for promotion – adding European funds and aid from the Generalitat. “Access to these homes is managed by each developer and the access requirement is to be registered in the registry of applicants for officially protected housing,” they clarify from the Department of Territory of the Generalitat. To these new homes will be added 2,155 that will be directly promoted by the Institut Català del Sòl (Incasòl), of which 351 are under construction.
Apart from direct promotion and public aid, other means through which it is expected to create 10,000 homes by 2026 is the transfer of public land to private operators, as well as the direct purchase of housing already built - through the acquisition from large holders and the formula of the right of first refusal and withdrawal.
In the case of the community of Madrid, with a housing market also very tense, the Social Housing Agency has launched the construction of 1,583 rental apartments in seven municipalities in the region: in Majadahonda, Móstoles, Valdemoro, Rivas , Guadarrama, Villa del Prado and in the city of Madrid. The regional government explains that the data on applicants for this type of housing is not public. Likewise, they clarify that, although there are no raffles planned in the near future, "the vast majority of housing winners are awarded due to special need and not by lottery."
Apart from the social rental housing stock, made up of nearly 25,000 apartments, the regional government has promoted an affordable housing program through public-private collaboration, within which more than 6,600 homes are being built that will be used for rental. . Through this website you can check the opening date of registrations. The awards are made by “rigorous chronological order” of registration of the applications, “provided that the access requirements are met”, as stated in Decree 84/2020, of October 7, of the Community of Madrid.
While for housing considered social rental, the access requirements are set in Decree 52/2016, of May 31. In general, the rule establishes that “homes will be allocated to family units with a maximum annual income of 3.5 times the Multiple Effects Public Income Indicator (IPREM).” In addition, applicants cannot be illegally occupying an apartment and must not own another home. "For these purposes, it will not be considered that one is the owner of full ownership or a real right of use or enjoyment when it falls only on an aliquot part of the home not exceeding 50 percent and the same has been acquired by way of inheritance. ", reads the wording of the standard.
Applicants for a social rental apartment who have not been awarded the use of their habitual residence in the separation or divorce ruling will be exempt from this requirement. Likewise, the requirements of each call must be met. For example, in some it is required to be registered in the municipality in which the real estate is located.
The ways to access a social rental apartment change depending on the situation of each applicant. “In the case of people who are in a vulnerable situation, access to social housing, or very social in this case, is carried out through social entities, such as private foundations, or the social services of each municipality. , through application lists specific to each entity or organization,” explains Enric Fabra, technical secretary of the coordinator of foundations promoting and managing social rental housing in Catalonia (Cohabitac), which currently manage 4,300 social rental homes.
In general, the requirements to register in the registry of applicants for housing under official protection are: being of legal age or being emancipated, needing housing, residing in a municipality in Catalonia and not exceeding the maximum income limit.
In addition, the specific requirements established in the award bases of each housing development must be met. For example, being registered in the registry of applicants before a certain date, that the level of financial effort for the payment of rent does not exceed 30% of the gross income of the cohabitation unit, or being registered or having resided for a minimum time in the municipality where the promotion is located. In this way, many town councils give priority to the residents of the municipality.
The foundations, however, set a condition that in the event that the housing promotion is not completed with applicants from a certain locality, the procedure is opened to applicants from other municipalities in the region or province. "Of course, no home, much less social housing, should be empty," says Fabra.
Likewise, it details that the foundations that manage rentals in this community establish a relationship between the number of bedrooms the home has and the number of members of the cohabitation unit. For example, a three-bedroom home would be assigned to a family of between three and five members.
It must also be taken into account that in social housing allocation processes, specific reservations are often made for special contingents. In fact, the law requires that 4% of each development be allocated to people with reduced mobility, adapting these homes to the physical disability of each person. Furthermore, in the developments built by Incasòl and managed by the Agència de l'Habitatge de Catalunya (AHC), 25% of the apartments are reserved for young people under 35 years of age.
Another issue that often worries social housing applicants is where the new developments to be built will be located. In this sense, the Generalitat asserts that “those municipalities that are included in tense areas or areas of strong and accredited demand are prioritized.”
In fact, more than half - 58% - of the 4,300 homes spread across 103 municipalities managed by the foundations that make up Cohabitac are located in the neighborhood of Barcelona. Specifically, 31% are located in the city of Barcelona, and to a lesser extent in the metropolitan area.
