Repsol YPF

If you are thinking of buying a flat, it is worth asking your local council or regional housing companies about the subsidised housing available, as well as the prerequisites for applying for it. All the regulations related to housing are regional, however, it is the Housing Department that sets out the guidelines based on which the autonomous regions establish specific requirements and conditions. All subsidies, in the case of both property purchases and rentals, are subject to criteria which favour people with a lower income or who are in a restrictive situation, suffering from illness or harm, such as victims of gender-based violence or terrorism and people with disabilities, among others. 

Subsidies for young people between the ages of 20 and 35 years (or 36 years in some autonomous regions) have undergone significant changes this year, such as the 210 euro rental subsidy for young people between 22 and 30 years, and subsidies for purchasing protected housing, as well as for renovation work on their primary residence. 

Exhaustive review of subsidies

Young people’s subsidies represent the most significant progress in housing in recent years, however these subsidies and those aimed at citizens of any age, have provisions, requirements and incompatibilities with other subsidies which are worth looking at thoroughly. We recommend that you review all of the subsidies and protected housing offered in your autonomous region, and if you are able to apply for several properties, choose that which best suits your needs, taking into account the time periods in the case of newly built protected housing or in the case of renting with an option to buy. 

This option, through which tenants can purchase the property ten years after it was built, priority being given to those people who have rented it for at least five years, is an interesting option for buying more affordable properties than those available on the free market. The price of the flat includes a significant discount representing the rent paid during the rental period. Renting with the option to buy is limited to specific properties, which you can find out about at your local or regional council. 

Housing cooperatives  

Another alternative for purchasing a property which is more affordable than those on the free market is a housing cooperative, where the purchaser becomes a partner in the cooperative and as such, a developer of the newly built property. In this case, any decision made concerning both payments and issues related to returning them, increases in the prices agreed or delays to the completion of flat sales, must be approved by the partners at a General Partners’ Meeting. 

With housing cooperatives, the property prices can be up to 30% lower than a flat on the free market, but it is essential that before joining an association, you read the articles of association in order to see whether they meet your needs, and that you thoroughly research the company through the Spanish Confederation of Housing Cooperatives, CONCOVI. 

Related articles:

- Registering a property

- Buying a property through a cooperative