Recent months have been tough as a result of the situation created by the coronavirus, and this is true for housing as well. Circumstances have made it so that many families, indeed up to 500,000 people, are facing difficulties when it comes to paying rent. This has led the government to take some measures in this regard, including nation-wide COVID-19 rental relief payments.
What are COVID-19 rental relief payments?
First, Royal Decree-Law 11/2020 of 31 March included a line of guarantees for requesting microcredits from banks (ICO, or official credit institute), so that renters could continue paying their rent despite the situation. This measure was supported by a specific relief payment programme that sought to counterbalance the impact of COVID-19 on the rental of the habitual residence.
The program consists of granting amounts of up to 900 Euros per month, without going over the amount of the rental, for a maximum of 6 months since this past April. It must be requested before 30 September. To access this programme, it is necessary to demonstrate that you are the renter of your habitual residence and are in a situation of financial and social vulnerability due to the coronavirus. Once granted, the total amount will be directly paid to the landlord or landlady or to the bank from which the corresponding credit has been requested.
Beyond the COVID-19 rental relief payments offered by the government, many autonomous communities have led their own series of initiatives with the intention of alleviating, to the extent possible, the situation of these thousands of people who have come across temporary difficulties in paying their rent each month. If you would like to consult them, you can do so through the official links to each autonomous community's housing department here.
Nevertheless, the need for COVID-19 rental assistance has opened the door to continuing to evaluate new possibilities in managing rentals in Spain. Just one week ago, on 30 June, the Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Planning announced a National System of Reference Indexes for rental prices.
It is a visual tool created with data on 1.7 million properties from legal sources. Its objective is to offer transparency and knowledge about the housing rental market. Through it, it is hoped that enough reliable information will be available to be able to implement public policies aimed at promoting a more affordable rental offer.
It is designed to be a resource so that individuals and agencies can better operate on the market. It also offers a fundamental tool that can be used to establish tax policies or policies on other types of assistance to reduce prices from the different governmental levels. Nevertheless, imposing limits on rental prices from town halls or autonomous communities is still not allowed.
It is possible that in upcoming months, we will continue hearing new measures regarding rentals. Meanwhile, if you are looking for a residence, at Spainhouses, we want to make it easy for you. Our real estate website offers thousands of properties to choose from and multiple property search and information functions to help you.
Visit our page and find the rental that suits you best now