The Ministry of Economy has agreed this Monday with the two main banking associations, the AEB and CECA, to extend from 29,400 to 38,000 euros the maximum annual income that will be able to benefit from the protection measures of the new code of good practices for mortgagees in trouble created ago. one year.
With this measure, an announcement made by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the investiture plenary session is fulfilled. Households with difficulties that suffer a sharp drop in their income will be able to freeze the mortgage payment for twelve months and extend the life of the loan by seven years for those mortgaged in trouble.
The first vice president of the Government and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, explained that, according to data from the Bank of Spain, the extension of the code will allow 100,000 more homes to be protected than until now.
The figure is added to the 549,000 potential beneficiaries who, according to the Bank of Spain, could benefit from the previous formulation of the code. The Government spoke at the time of one million homes, but today it accepts the Bank of Spain's calculations as correct.
Calviño described the meeting with the entities and banking consumer associations as "tremendously cordial and constructive." The measures have been adopted "unanimously" and respond to the "very positive will" shown by the banks. In a farewell tone, since in a few days she will assume the presidency of the EIB, the minister has also expressed her "heartfelt and warm gratitude" to the entities.
As a novelty, the Government and the banks have also agreed to extend until the end of 2024 the free conversion of variable to fixed rate mortgages, as well as the mixed rate modality, in which it is possible to distribute the loan over a period initial at a fixed rate and a subsequent one at a variable rate. Households with incomes of less than 5,200 euros will be able to enjoy a two-year grace period.
Calviño has also announced that before the end of the year the Government will approve a legal change so that the withdrawal of cash at the counter by those over 65 years of age does not have commissions. "A good part of the entities are already doing it voluntarily," he said.
At the meeting, he also conveyed the need to "adapt the remuneration of deposits" and presented the project for the financial client defense authority, which will soon be transferred to the Government. However, there has been no talk of the bank tax.
Along with the code of good practices, the Government and the banks have discussed measures to improve older people's access to financial services and guarantee their provision throughout the territory.
The governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Hernández de Cos, present at the meeting, reported that to date 55,000 requests have been submitted by users. "To that we must add the relief measures that the entities provide," said Calviño.
The general director of the AEB, María Abascal, has described the meeting as "very fruitful", in which "the issue on which there are the most discrepancies has not been addressed", which is the extraordinary tax on banks.
Regarding the increase in the income threshold to 38,000 euros, the banks "do not consider the increase strictly necessary" because, according to Abascal, the economic situation has improved. "However, we will rise to the occasion. For us, success is that whoever has a problem can have a solution."
The AEB also demands that the code does not undergo changes during its period of validity and highlights the initiative of the banks in mortgage refinancing, much higher than that corresponding to the aid agreed with the Government. Refinancing until July amounts to 2.7 billion euros.
The general director of the CECA, José María Méndez, showed his satisfaction with "the progress" in relations with the Government, but expressed his dissatisfaction in aspects such as the new authority for the defense of financial clients. "We would have liked a model that was more comparable to the European one," he said.
Patricia Suárez, president of the consumer protection association Asufin, has described the low remuneration of deposits in Spain as an "Iberian anomaly", although she has been "satisfied" with the extension of the code of good practices.
