Spanish Government Will Cover Non-Payment Of Rent For Up To 12 Months For Young People
Spain News
Published: 15 November 2021 16:31 CET
The Spanish government has announced plans to create a non-payment of rent insurance to facilitate access to the housing market for young people.
Under the proposals, announced by the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, the support would mean that the landlord would continue to be paid in the event that the tenant was unable to meet their rental payment obligations.
The support would be available if the tenant had a justifiable reason for non-payment such as being unemployed or made redundant. Payments would be made on behalf of the tenant to the owner for up to 12 months, however, payments would not be able to exceed 5% of the person’s annual rent.
As an example, if a tenant’s rental contract was for 600 euros per month, the policy would pay a maximum of 360 euros per month for up to 12 months of non-payment. This would equate to 5% of the yearly rent which would be 7,200 euros.
The minister said that the measure aimed to facilitate access to affordable housing while providing security to the property owners.
During a forum which was organised by El Español, she said, "it is up to the public powers to guarantee the right to housing,” stressing the government’s commitment to assisting younger Spaniards in accessing the housing market.
Under a new housing law which was announced back in October, the government will also help anyone between the age of 18 and 35 years and earning less than 23,725 euros per year with a monthly payment of 250 euros for up to two years to help with their housing costs.
The minister also defended the new housing law which was agreed with coalition partners Unidas Podemos which she said served to introduce new measures that would “help to contain the rise in rental prices in some areas”.
It would be the tenant’s responsibility to apply for the assistance while the beneficiary would be the property owner. The first rental payment would be made as soon as the tenant stopped making the payment for a justifiable reason.
If the person were unemployed and unable to make their rental payment, the protection payment which would be provided by the insurance would be activated with payments lasting for a maximum of one year.
The ministry believes that the new measure will help young people to get on the housing ladder as the property owner would have the assurance that the rent would continue to be paid if the tenant’s income was impacted. At the same time, the cost to the public coffers will not be so high as the maximum that may be claimed cannot exceed 5% of the annual rent.
Although yet to be defined, it is understood that there will be limitations as to the age of the beneficiaries of the policy as well as the amount of rent and the price of the property that is rented. The aid will be a part of the State Housing Plan which is scheduled to be approved during December at which time the Ministry will then sign agreements with each autonomous community.
It is also worth clarifying that current limits on housing aid which are for those up to the age of 35, a property rental price of between 600 and 900 euros per month and a maximum income of three times the IPREM which as of January 1, 2022, will be 579.02 euros per month which may be increased for those with larger families or people with disabilities.
Source
https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/4891149/0/el-gobierno-financiara-un-seguro-de-impago-de-alquiler-para-facilitar-el-acceso-a-la-vivienda-de-los-jovenes/
https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/serviciosdeprensa/notasprensa/transportes/Paginas/2021/151121-alquilerjovenes.aspx
Image Credit: La Moncloa
