The Government extends the deadline for rent subsidies: Requirements and how to apply

The rent subsidies included in the State Housing Plan will not end in 2021 as planned. The Government has extended the deadline by one year in view of the serious situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the requirements that must be met to access them.

One more year to ask for rent support. The Government has approved an extension of the deadline for granting aid under the State Housing Plan until the 31st December 2022. It also regulates the procedure for verifying ICO loans for the payment of rent that are being given to families in a state of greatest vulnerability due to the coronavirus.

The decision of the Council of Ministers includes several new developments on the existing Housing Plan:

• It includes a regulation of a reasonably efficient verification and verification process that guarantees the correct application of the transitional financing aid approved in Article 9 of Royal Decree-Law 11/2020 of March 31st. It refers to loans guaranteed and subsidized by the State for those tenants who are in a more economically vulnerable situation due to the coronavirus.

• It abolishes the requirement for an agreement to be signed between the Ministry, the Autonomous Community and the municipality concerned, prior to the purchase of housing by the public authorities or their entities.

• It extends aid to young people for the acquisition of housing to municipalities and population centres of less than 5,000 inhabitants.

What is the new deadline for granting aid?

The deadline for granting the grants of the State Housing Plan 2018-2021 is extended until the 31st December 2022 and the period for the acquisition of the financial commitment by the Autonomous Communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla in the implementation of any State plan aid from the funds committed by the ministry in the years 2020 and 2021, until the 31st December 2020 and the 31st December 2021 respectively.

In addition, the deadline for the implementation of 193 actions to promote urban regeneration and renewal, articulated under the State Plan 2013-2016, at the request of the communities, is extended by two years, until the 31st December 2022, which sustains activity and job creation.

What are the requirements?

The Housing Plan in force since 2018 included assistance for three years for the payment of rent, for the purchase and for the rehabilitation of properties. Also included was the novelty that young people could count on up to 10,800 euros for the purchase of a property.

• There is no age requirement to ask for rent help

• They are granted on the basis of income. They must be less than 3 times the IPREM without age limit, which increases up to 4 times for large families or 5 times for special large families and people with certain degrees of disability.

• The IPREM is the Public Indicator of Multiple Effects Income, the index used in Spain as a reference for the granting of aid, subsidies or unemployment benefit. It was created in 2004 to replace the Minimum Wage as a reference for this aid.

• There is a maximum amount of aid of up to 40% of the general monthly income which goes up to 50% for those over 65 and the rents that can benefit ( In general, EUR 600 which would rise to 900 in certain areas to be defined by the Autonomous Communities).

• The State Housing Plan 2018-2021 was approved by the Government of Mariano Rajoy to promote rent to vulnerable groups. Now, the government of Pedro Sánchez prolongs some aid given the severity of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.