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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.​

Status: NOT AVAILABLE

Recipients: Multi-family or single-family residential buildings in the city of Barcelona that require accessibility improvements    

Administration granting the subsidy: Barcelona Housing Consortium

Renovation for accessibility actions

This line of subsidy, promoted by the Barcelona Housing Consortium, is aimed at all those residential buildings in the city of Barcelona that require an improvement in terms of accessibility, such as the installation of elevators and the removal of architectural barriers. In short, to make housing accessible to their tenants and neighbors.

For the processing of the application, preferably it will be done telematically by accessing the Virtual Office of Procedures of the City Council of Barcelona. However, those individuals who do not have the technical means to do so may go to any of the Housing Offices spread throughout the city, provided they have the corresponding appointment.

Do you want to know how to apply?

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

Recipients

Persons residing in multi-family or single-family housing buildings in the city of Barcelona that require accessibility improvements.

Requirements

The beneficiaries must meet the following requirements:

  • They will have to be up to date in the fulfillment of tax and Social Security obligations.
  • In order to access the social cohesion aid of up to 100% provided for in point 4.4 a), a maximum family income of three times the IRSC must be accredited, according to the family income table established in the Housing Plan in force, in accordance with that provided for in point 5.1. 

In the case of buildings that include rented dwellings, only those dwellings will be subsidized that prove that:

  • As a minimum, they have a rental contract with a minimum term of five years, to be counted from the end of the construction certificate. In this sense, if applicable, the owners must accredit this condition with the certificate of completion, and provide the contracts or agreements, without any increase in the rent, in which the duration of the rent is extended.  
  • That they have rental prices below the maximum foreseen in the range of the reference index of rental prices of the Housing Agency of Catalonia (agenciahabitatge.gencat.cat/). In this sense, if applicable, the owners must accredit this condition within a maximum period of three months, counting from the certificate of completion of works, and provide the corresponding rental contract or addendum to the current contract and accreditation of the amount of the last receipt. 
  • In the case of buildings that include empty dwellings at the time of applying for registration to this call, the granting of the subsidy will be conditioned to the inclusion of the aforementioned dwellings in the Barcelona Social Rental Exchange for five years. The fulfillment of this condition must be accredited, at the time of presenting the final certificate of works, using a certificate from the competent management of the Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation of Barcelona.
  • If the owner/s is not a regular and permanent user/s of the dwelling, to be eligible for the subsidies it will be necessary to have a rental contract that meets the requirements set out in the call for applications. If necessary, it will be verified ex officio that the census registration is at least one year before the date of publication of the call.

Residential buildings must meet the following requirements:

  • Built before 1996 in which 70% of the surface area of the building, excluding the first floor not destined for housing, and the surface area below ground level, is destined for housing of habitual use. If the above-mentioned 70% is not reached, the subsidies will be granted proportionally, according to the surface area used for regular housing, unless the dwellings that do not meet this purpose, up to 70% of the total housing in the building, are destined for the Barcelona Social Rental Exchange.
  • After 1996 that execute accessibility works, except that they are within the period of claim to the promoter of the work, by the deadlines established in the Law of building management and, in no case, less than 10 years.
  • Single-family buildings built before 1996, except for elevators. Works in architectural complexes must be carried out by the urban planning criteria applicable to the specific area of action.

Performance requirements:

Installation of elevators​

  • This includes actions consisting of the provision of elevators in multi-family housing buildings that do not have them, both inside and outside the multi-family housing buildings. The buildings will have to be at least the first floor plus two floors, regardless of the stops. The technical requirements to be met by the elevators in question can be consulted in point 4.3.1 of the official call announcement.

Removal of architectural barriers and accessibility improvements

  • This includes works for the removal of architectural barriers and the installation of elevators in multi-family buildings up to the first floor plus two floors, as well as the extension of stops in buildings that already have an elevator.
  • Elements for the improvement of communicative accessibility for deaf people, if they did not have one before.

All the actions included in this program will have to comply with the aspects regarding the elimination of architectural barriers of the current accessibility regulations and the Metropolitan Rehabilitation Ordinances. They will also comply with the technical requirements of action 4.3.1 Installation of elevators.

For the elements of improvement of the communicative accessibility, the new installation will have to comply with the sectorial regulations in force as well as those of general application.

The installations will be orderly and will respect the composition, materials, and chromaticism of the original building.

Documentation

a) Presentation of the application for registration and technical report according to point 3 of this call.

If the application for aid does not meet the requirements established by the applicable regulations or is not accompanied by the required documentation or is incomplete or erroneous, the interested party will be reliably required to amend the lack or provide the required documents within a period of ten working days, stating that if he/she fails to do so, he/she will be considered to have abandoned the application, prior resolution to that effect.

The applications will be processed following the order of entry to the corresponding registry.

The application will be inadmissible if it is submitted after the deadline established in the call for applications and the non-compliance with the non-amendable requirements, without prejudice that this non-compliance may be cause for revocation of the subsidy, if it becomes known at a later date. 

The presentation of the application for the grants implies the full acceptance of the regulatory bases, of the call, and the authorization to the Consortium so that it can verify, among other requirements:

  • To be up to date with the fulfillment of tax obligations with the State, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the metropolitan City Councils and with the Social Security, established by the provisions in force. 
  • Verify the identity data of the promoter and its representative.
  • Check the required documentation and contrast it with its issuer.
  • Check census data.
  • Check income data. 
  • Check cadastral data.
  • Check the existence of a current certificate of occupancy or the status of its processing.
  • Carry out an inspection, if deemed appropriate, to verify compliance with the requirements established in the call for applications.

b) Previous report. In accordance with the provisions of Article 19 of the Regulatory Bases, all actions that wish to benefit from the protectable actions must previously accredit the justification of their necessity and suitability through the completion of a technical evaluation report of the building that analyzes the state of conservation, as well as the energy certification of the building.

The consortium may deem it necessary for the building permit to be resolved in order to issue a prior technical report on the suitability of the works. In the event that the building permit is not issued within two months of the request for the prior technical report, the consortium may refuse the request.

c) Beginning of the works with the presentation of the corresponding certificate. 

  • It will be necessary to provide the statement of commencement of works according to the standardized model together with the document issued by the technical director of the work, which will have to be presented after the technical report has been collected.
  • The works may be started within a maximum period of four (4) months from the day following the date of application for aid. In the event that it has not been possible to begin within this period because the municipal authorization has not yet been granted, the works must begin within a maximum period of one month from the date on which the municipal authorization is granted.
  • The beneficiary person or entity must communicate, preferably telematically, the commencement of the works within a maximum period of thirty calendar days from the day following the commencement of the works, with the presentation of the definitive municipal authorization for the works. 
  • The building permit must be in force during the entire execution of the works. The Consortium will require the applicant to provide proof of completion at the end of the period indicated on the building permit. In case of not giving the opportune answer to the requirement, it will be understood that the applicant ceases in his request and the file will be archived, having previously issued a resolution to that effect.

d) Execution and completion of the works. Presentation of the corresponding certificate and final documentation:

  • The term for executing the works may not exceed eight (8) months, counted from the day following the date of application for aid. This term may be extended exceptionally for duly justified reasons prior to expiration. The works must be carried out during the term of the municipal building permit.
  • The end of the works will have to be communicated within thirty calendar days following the day of its completion, by means of the presentation of the documentation, preferably in a telematic way. If the period between the date of commencement of works and the date of completion of works is less than or equal to thirty calendar days, the documentation justifying the commencement and completion of the works may be submitted jointly.

e) Final assessment. Once the works have been completed, the Consortium technician responsible for the file will carry out an inspection of the building, if necessary, to verify that the works have been executed according to the initial technical report. Once the works have been verified and the final documentation has been received, the file will be evaluated.

The technicians of the Consortium will be allowed access to the property during the 4 years following the end of the works and the conditions established in the initial report of the technician of the Consortium will have to be maintained in order to obtain the subsidy during these 4 years.

Amount and application period

For the installation of elevators, the amount of the subsidy will be 35% of the eligible budget with a ceiling of €30,000. In the case of exterior elevators, this ceiling will be increased to €50,000.

In the neighborhoods of Raval, Gòtic, Barceloneta, Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera, Poble-sec, Besòs i el Maresme, Bon Pastor, Can Peguera, Roquetes, Prosperitat, Torre Baró, and Carmel, the subsidy will be 50% of the eligible budget, with a ceiling of 45.000 €. In the case of exterior elevators, this ceiling will be increased to €65.000.

For the removal of architectural barriers and accessibility improvements, the subsidy will be 25% of the eligible budget with a ceiling of €30.000.

This call is currently closed.

Compatibilities and incompatibilities

The aids provided for in this call are incompatible with any other aid for the same action, except as provided for in Article 7 of the Regulatory Bases for cases of social aid granted by other entities, in which case the aids may be accumulated.

Likewise, the aid will also be compatible with the aid programs regulated by Royal Decree 853/2021, of October 5, which regulates the aid programs for residential rehabilitation and social housing of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, provided that the total cost of the actions is not exceeded and provided that the regulation of the other aids admits it, being applicable the provisions of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 12 February 2021, which establishes that the aid granted within the framework of the Mechanism will be added to that provided under other programs and instruments of the Union, specifying that the reforms and investment projects may receive aid from other programs and instruments of the Union as long as this aid does not cover the same cost, avoiding double financing between programs of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism and other instruments of the Union.

Other informations

Additional aid for social cohesion

Those persons who do not have the resources to pay for the rehabilitation works have access to these additional and complementary individual aids. In these cases, the beneficiary of the aid will have to request the registration of this resolution to grant aid in the Land Registry, in accordance with the provisions of article 136 of Law 18/2007 on the right to housing, article 31 of Law 38/2003 on general subsidies and article 74 of RD 1093/1997, which approves the complementary rules to the Regulation for the execution of the Mortgage Law on registration in the Land Registry of acts of a town planning nature.

The settlement will state the obligation to return the amount of the aid plus the expenses of settlement in the Property Registry and the legal interests accrued since its receipt in case of transfer of the dwelling, except in the case of transfers mortis causa when the person who receives the property accredits to be in the same economic circumstances that are required to access the aid and also destines the dwelling to his habitual and permanent residence. The validity of this settlement will be of thirty years.

For all the programs of action in buildings, the owners can request a complementary aid of up to 100% of the individual contribution that corresponds to them to make for the corresponding action, as long as they fulfill the following requirements:

  • To be the owner of the affected dwelling and that this constitutes their habitual and permanent residence. 
  • The family unit must prove to have an income of less than three times the IRSC according to the family income table established in the current Housing Plan. 
  • Not having another dwelling in the city of Barcelona.

In the event that there is more than one owner of the property, the authorization of all the owners must be provided in order to be able to register the property in the Land Registry. All the conditions of this additional aid can be consulted in the bases of the call.