Housing

People aged 65 or over at risk of social exclusion and with a rent agreement for a habitual residence.

To obtain the condition of beneficiaries of the subsidies, qualifying adults who apply for the subsidy have to fulfil the following requirements:

• Being 65 years of age or more in the calendar year of the announcement.
• Having legal residence in Catalonia.
• Being at risk of social exclusion as defined in Section 72 of Act nº 18/2007 of 28 December and certifying a total household income no greater than 2.83 times the IRSC, weighted according to the number of family members and the zone where the home is located.
• Holding, as tenant, the rent agreement of the home forming the object of the subsidy which is their habitual and permanent residence, and being registered there as a resident. The rent agreement must be formalised under the Urban Leases Act nº 29/1994 of 24 November.
• Not paying a monthly rent for the home greater than €800, or €900 if any member of the family unit has some disability and favourable mobility scale.
• Receiving the subsidy by way of a standing order in a financial institution.
• Being up to date with the rent payment at the moment of submitting the application.
• Paying the rent for the home at least from the month following the date of submitting the application, by means of bank transfer, direct debit or a bill issued by the administrator of the property, stating the following items: the identification of the payer, the identification of the beneficiary of the payment and the corresponding monthly amount.
• Pay the rent, at least from the month following the date of submission of the application, by bank transfer, direct debit receipt or receipt issued by the administrator of the property, by deposit into an account or by bizum where the following items are stated: the identification of the person paying and the person receiving the payment as well as the monthly payment to which it corresponds.
• Not being subject to any of the cases of prohibition from benefiting from subsidies, in accordance with Section 13 of Act nº 38/2003 of 17 November.
• Fulfilling their tax obligations with the State and the Government of Catalonia and their obligations with the Social Security Service.

The following documentation has to be submitted along with the application:

• Identity documents:
  • Currently valid National Identity Document (DNI).
  • European Union citizens: currently valid certificate of registration of citizens of the European Union.
• Non-EC foreigners: currently valid NIE (Foreigners’ Identity Number) and TIE (Foreigners’ Identity Card).
• Certificate of income of the applicant and each of the members of the household of working age. The income must be certified as follows:
• Personal Income Tax return corresponding to the immediately previous tax period, with submission date matured on the submission date of the application, of the applicant and of each one of the members of working age composing the household. In accordance with Article 4.1 of Decree nº 75/2014 of 27 May on the Housing Right Plan, when the beneficiaries are natural persons or household units constituted by various natural persons, for determining the income of the person or family unit to the effects of its evaluation for obtaining the subsidy, the base taken will be the amounts of the general tax and savings base regulated by Section 48 and 49 of Act nº 35/2006 of 28 November corresponding to the tax returns submitted by each one of the members of the family unit, relating to the last tax period, with matured submission date at the moment of applying for the subsidy.
• In the event that the applicant or other members of the household of working age are not obliged to submit a Personal Income Tax return, they must submit a tax certificate issued by the State Tax Agency (AEAT) or the corresponding certificate of pensions or tax-exempt subsidies.
• Certificate or document of cohabitation verifying the address of the applicant and the persons forming the household.
• Family record book, if appropriate.
• The rent agreement in the name of the applicant. The rent agreement must include the fulfilment of the tenant’s obligation to pay the deposit to the lessor, in accordance with the Urban Leases Act nº 29/1994 of 24 November, Act nº 13/1996 of 29 July on registration and payment of deposits of rent agreements of urban properties, its Regulations and other concordant provisions.
• In the event that the person applying for the subsidy who lives in the home is the spouse of the agreement holder or is included in the cases regulated in Sections 15 and 16 of Act nº 29/1994 of 24 November, they must provide the documentation certifying the attribution of the use right of the home, whether by subrogation, agreement or ruling of separation or divorce, or other lawfully valid titles.
• In the cases of women who have been victims of gender violence and who, as a consequence of a restraining order or judicial ruling, have the home attributed as their habitual and permanent residence, they may be acknowledged the right to receive the subsidy if they certify that they take charge of the payment of the rent of the home.
• In order to certify the condition of victim of gender violence, it will be necessary to provide a qualified means of proof in accordance with Section 33 of Act nº 5/2008 of 24 April on the right of women to eradicate male violence against them.
• All the rent bills corresponding to the year of the announcement paid until the submission date of the application. In the cases of homes managed by local public companies and non-profit organisations, the home managers may submit, substituting for the paid rent bills, a certificate stating the forename(s) and surname(s) of the applicants, the number of one or more of the identity documents listed in Rule 8.1 a), the identifying data of the home and the list of the months of paid rent.
• Statement of compliance with the requirements established in these Rules and of non-incurrence of any of the grounds for exclusion laid down in Rule 4.2.
• Standardised form or equivalent document in the name of the applicant, with the bank details of the account into which the subsidy is to be paid.
• Statement of compliance relating to not having requested or obtained any other public or private subsidies with the same purpose.
• Certificate of not having any debt with the State Tax Agency (AEAT), the General Treasury of the Social Security Service (TGSS) and the Tax Agency of Catalonia (ATC).
• Certificate of degree of disability from the Department of Employment, Social Affairs and Families.
• Any applicants who object to the managing body being able to make the consultations detailed in Rule 7.4 must provide the following documentation:
  • Identity documents: 
    • Currently valid National Identity Document (DNI).
    • European Union citizens: currently valid certificate of registration of European Union citizens.
    • Non-EC foreigners: currently valid NIE (Foreigners’ Identity Number) and TIE (Foreigners’ Identity Card).
  • Personal Income Tax return corresponding to the immediately previous tax period, with matured submission date on the submission date of the application, of the applicant and of each one of the members composing the household of working age. In accordance with Article 4.1 of Decree nº 75/2014 of 27 May on the Housing Right Plan, when the beneficiaries are natural persons or household units constituted by various natural persons, for determining the income of the person or family unit to the effects of its evaluation for obtaining the subsidy, the base taken will be the amounts of the general tax and savings base regulated by Section 48 and 49 of Act nº 35/2006 of 28 November corresponding to the tax returns submitted by each one of the members of the family unit, relating to the last tax period, with matured submission date at the moment of applying for the subsidy.
• Certificate or record of cohabitation verifying the address of the applicant and of the persons forming the household.
• Certificate of not having any debt with the State Tax Agency (AEAT), the General Treasury of the Social Security Service (TGSS) and the Tax Agency of Catalonia (ATC).
• Certification from the competent department in matters of social affairs, in the case of persons with disability.

The Agency may request, directly or by way of the collaborating entities in the management of these subsidies, complementary documentation to expand its knowledge concerning the submitted application.

The monthly amount of the subsidy is determined by the difference between the amount of the rent being paid by the tenant (agreed rent) and the amount they should be paying (fair rent). A rent is considered fair when the amount represents 20% or 30% of the income, depending on whether this is less or more than 0.94 times the weighted Sufficiency Income Indicator of Catalonia (IRSC).

The determination of the amount of the subsidy will take into account the amount of the rent bill corresponding to the month prior to the submission of the application. To this effect, this amount includes the amount of the rent and its delays, and the amounts corresponding to passing on the improvement works, the Property Tax (IBI) and the waste disposal rate.

The monthly amount of the subsidy will be a maximum of 200 euros and a minimum of 20 euros when the result of the calculations determining the amount is less than this quantity. When the amount of the subsidy is equal to the amount of the rent, it will be 40% of this amount.

The subsidy is granted for the year of the announcement. For persons holding rent agreements signed between 1 January of the year of the announcement and the deadline date for the submission of applications, the amount of the subsidy will be for the amount corresponding to the monthly instalments included between the month prior to the effective date of the agreement presented at the moment of application and the month of December of the year of the announcement, with a maximum monthly amount of 200 euros.

In the event that, after the submission of the application and before the passing of the decision, the applicant provides a new rent agreement, an addendum to the agreement or a covenant signed by and between the parties, provided the requirements are fulfilled with the initially submitted documentation, the calculation of the subsidy will take into account the amount of the last rent bill paid corresponding to the new agreement, addendum or covenant.

This call is currently closed (as of April 29, 2022).

These subsidies are incompatible with the receipt of any other subsidies from any Public Administration or public or private entities for the same monthly payments of the same year and for the same purpose. They are also incompatible with the rent payment benefits and subsidies associated with announcements of the Barcelona Housing Consortium.

In a transitional manner, until the regulatory development of the Citizens’ Guaranteed Rent Act nº 14/2017 of 20 July, in accordance with Section 4.4 of this Act and with the purpose of avoiding evictions and complementing the Citizens’ Guaranteed Rent, the subsidies governed by these Rules are only compatible with the Citizens’ Guaranteed Rent for single-member families who have been beneficiaries of a minimum insertion rent or a non-contributive benefit and at the same time of a rent payment subsidy in the previous financial year.

• The receipt of the subsidy must be by way of a standing order in a financial institution.
• The payment of the subsidy is conditional on the availabilities of the endowments of the corresponding announcement and the verification by the Agency that the beneficiary is up to date with the payment of their rent bills.
• The subsidies can be paid directly to the beneficiary or, if expressly so authorised, to a person providing a service of guardianship or mediation in whose favour this right is assigned.