Tanca Tanca

Housing Glossary

You will find information here on all topics relating to housing in Barcelona

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Accrued interest

The interest applied as a penalisation when the debtor does not comply with repayment obligations. The amount must be established in the contract.

Active supermortgage

This allows the client to choose their loan's benchmark index (MIBOR at three months, six months or a year) so that payment can benefit from lower interest rates sooner.

Adaptable instalment

Characteristic of UCI superloans that allow the borrower to not pay one instalment a year for the first three years if there are problems due to holidays, extraordinary expenses, etc.

Advanced cancellation fee

A commission arising from the financial risk involved in the advanced cancellation of an operation. The applied commission compensates the financial institution for its financial losses.

AEDE

Direct state aid for paying the deposit on a property.

Affordable housing

Group of social housing or dwellings from social renovation projects that are sold or rented at below-market prices.

Affordable rent

The cost of renting these dwellings is below market prices after being included in operations concerning the rented flat pool, social renovation or social housing promotions.

Amortisation

Payment made to repay a loan.

Amortisation period

The duration of the loan. The contract establishes the date of the first and last payments. The longer the period, the lower the payments are, but the higher the interest. You therefore pay more in the end. The monthly instalment should not exceed 35% of your net income.

API

Estate agent. A qualified professional who acts as an intermediary between the two interested parties to facilitate the signing of a real estate contract, which can be a rental agreement, a sales agreement or another similar contract. They usually charge a percentage of the sales price as compensation or commission.

Applicant

A citizen who makes a registration application to the Barcelona Social Housing Applicants Registry, and who represents the other members of the dwelling unit included in the application.

APR

Annual Equivalent Rate. Effective annual cost of the mortgage in terms of interest, commissions and the repayment period. To compare loans, it is not enough to just look at the lowest APR, you also have to compare the conditions, the repayment period and the distribution of instalment payments.

Arbitri municipal de plusvàlua

Former denomination of the capital gains tax on landed property.

Assessment

The value of a dwelling certified by a specialised assessment company, in accordance with the mortgage market law. This certificate not only indicates the real value of the property, it also serves as a reference for obtaining the necessary financing.

Authorisation

Document in which the owner authorises the tenant to carry out building work in the dwelling's interior.

Close glossary

Housing offices only offer face-to-face assistance by prior appointment, so check out the “Housing calls you” service here to receive the most appropriate personalised assistance. If you also need assistance in energy rights, book an appointment with an energy-advice point (PAE) by clicking here. On the other hand, if you reside in an IMHAB public dwelling you can consult our contact, management and processing channels here.​

The purpose of this programme is to support the widespread adoption of the current Building Book for refurbishment through grants that cover part of the costs of professional fees for the issue of the reports and of drawing up detailed proposals for the overall refurbishment of buildings.

The Book that tells you the condition of a building

This grant programme is for ownership associations for residential buildings constructed before 2000 and who wish to prepare a Building Book or refurbishment proposals.

A Building Book is a technical report that describes the characteristics of a building and tells owners how a building should be used and maintained to extend its useful life and stop it from deteriorating. The report also describes the steps to achieve the required increases in energy efficiency.

EU Next Generation funds meet part of the costs of this diagnostic report incurred by owners who show that they wish to carry out refurbishment or restoration works.

Would you like to know how to apply for Building and Project Book preparation’s grants?

These dropdowns explain the requirements and process to apply for these grants.

Recipients

Ownership associations and owners of single or multiple4 household buildings.

Requirements

Application for technical inspection of the building has been approved or is in train.

Grant to encourage the widespread adoption of the current Building Book for restoration or refurbishment and the carrying out of whole-building refurbishments in order to boost demand for high-quality energy projects of material size.

Works must be completed by 30 June 2026.

Requirements for buildings:

  • Be completed before 2000.
  • At 50% of the built surface area above ground level, excluding the ground floor and any lower floors if they have uses other than residential use, is residential.
  • Have submitted to the Housing Agency of Catalonia (AHC) an application for a certificate of suitability within no more than 4 months following the issue of a Report of Technical Inspection of a Building (IITE) and prior to the grant application.

Compatibilities and Incompatibilities

These grants can be combined with other public funding for the same purpose, provided that the aggregate of all grants and other publicly funded support does not exceed the total cost.

These grants may be combined with any other support funded by European Union funds for different measures.

The current Building Book for restoration or refurbishment may be combined with grants under Programme 1, grants for neighbourhood restoration measures, or Programme 3, grants for restoration of buildings, for which Applications may be submitted at the same time. In that case, if a grant is awarded under this Programme, the value of the grant will be calculated after deduction of any grant under Programmes 1 or 3. These grants may also be combined in the case of single household dwellings with Programme 4, grants for measures to increase energy efficiency in dwellings, provide an application for an ITE has been submitted.

Amount and term of the request

It is not possible to increase the amount of the grant on account of not having the Technical Inspection of a Building (ITE) and the Report of Technical Inspection of Building (IITE) as envisaged by Article 53.1 of Royal Decree 853/2021 of 5 October.

Applications can be submitted for these grants until 31 December 2024 or until all available funds have been used up.

Other informations

Measures eligible for grant support:

Widespread adoption of the current Building Book for restoration or refurbishment under Paragraph 10 of the Grant Award Process opened on 12 February 2021, under the Reovery, Transformation and Resilence Plan, financed by the European Union - NextGenerationEU.

Technical and whole-building refurbishment projects within the stated limits with a view to boosting demand for high-quality energy efficiency schemes of material size under Paragraph of the Grant Award Process opened on 12 February 2021, under the Reovery, Transformation and Resilence Plan, financed by the European Union - NextGenerationEU.