The Balearic Government will guarantee 20% of the value of the home in mortgage operations for an amount of less than 270,151.20 euros. The executive chaired by Francina Armengol reserves 15 million euros from next year's budget for the formalization of guarantees with which she hopes to facilitate access to housing in a community where prices are skyrocketing.
The average price per square meter in the Islands is currently at 3,082 euros and only Madrid, at 3,229 euros per meter, exceeds this amount. Palma, with an average of 3,122 euros, is the fourth most expensive capital in Spain behind San Sebastián (5,082 euros), Barcelona (4,352 euros) and Madrid (3,851), according to the latest data from the Association of Registrars.
Yesterday, the Government Council gave the go-ahead to this program, which will just become effective with the signing of specific agreements between the Institut Balear de l'Habitatge and each one of the financial entities attached to the program, as well as with the collaborating entity.
The Balearic Islands have established a series of requirements to be able to access this programme, including the need to prove continuous or intermittent residence in the community for a minimum of five years, that the home be used as the habitual and permanent residence of the applicants and that the applicants do not own any other dwelling, with some exceptions.
The spokesman for the Balearic Government, Iago Negueruela, explained that the purchase price of the home must be equal to or less than 270,151.20 euros and the total income of the applicants cannot exceed 57,117.67 euros for a borrower and 64,257.38 euros for two or more borrowers.
The agreement establishes that the financing operations will have to be organized through a mortgage loan contract financed with funds from the financial institution. The financial entity may not require the contracting of any additional banking product or service for the granting of the mortgage loan.
The Institut de l'Habitatge will open a restricted checking account for each of the financial entities participating in the program, in which it will deposit the amount equivalent to the guarantees granted, so that the balance is always 50% of the outstanding risk of the guarantees granted. The loans must be formalized, provided the corresponding authorization is available, before December 31, 2024.
The approval of this program comes in the midst of a debate on the possible prohibition of the purchase of homes by citizens who are not residents of the islands, with a special focus on foreigners. The Government of Francina Armengol has created a commission to decide if there are tools to prevent these purchases from those who have not lived on the islands for at least five years.
