Our intention with this article is to create a permanent guide that you can use whenever you need information about the public grants and subsidies in your municipality and also in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), as well as those awarded by the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Spanish State in compliance with Article 22.2 from Act 38/2008 dated 17 November on general subsidies and in Article 15 from Act 19/2014, dated 29December on transparency, access to public information and good governance.
The Ministry of Public Works approved a new State Housing Plan 2018-2021 in the year 2018. A project that, like the previous Plan for the period 2013-2016, gathers a series of schemes to support rental housing for people experiencing forced eviction, to strengthen the rental market, and to activate building rehabilitation, urban and rural regeneration.
As a result of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, on the 22nd July 2021, the Spanish government extended the deadline for the granting of aids from the State Housing Plan until 31st December 2022, in general terms, to “speed up the process and provide greater coverage for the plan.”
The State Housing Plan 2018-2021, now includes measures to increase the purchase of housing by young people (under 35) in localities with less than 5,000 inhabitants.
The new aids package anticipates a total investment of €1,443 million (62.43% more than the amount implemented in the State Housing Plan 2013-2016) to be distributed in the next four years. In particular, it is estimated a budget of 350 million in 2018, 357 million in 2019, 364 million in 2020, and 372 million in 2021.
The administration of aids will be managed, like in previous occasions, by the Autonomous Communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, so their competent bodies will be in charge of the paperwork process and administrative resolutions of all granted aids and payment of those, as well the payment of all given subsidies.
Even though the State Housing Plan 2018-2021 contains nine schemes to achieve its objectives, there are only four that tackle grants for the rehabilitation and building of housing:
Program to promote the improvement of energy efficiency and sustainability in housing
This program aims to regulate grants for works to improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of single-family homes and buildings of collective residence typology. The beneficiaries are Public Administrations, as well as public companies, cooperative societies, communities of owners, construction companies, tenants or concessionaires of the buildings, and energy services companies.
The subsidies are for actions aimed to improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings, such as the improvement of the thermal enclosure, the installation of new heating, refrigeration, or generation (through renewable energies) systems.
Program to promote the conservation, improvement of security use, and accessibility in housing
This program aims to finance the execution of works for the conservation, the improvement of the security of use, and universal accessibility in single-family homes whether urban or rural, and in a dwelling located in buildings of residential typology. The beneficiaries are Public Administrations, as well as public companies, cooperative societies, owners and communities of owners, construction companies, tenants, or concessionaires of the buildings.
Program to promote urban and rural regeneration and renewal
The agent executing the proceeding will be the beneficiary of these grants, which aim to finance the rehabilitations works of residential buildings and individual houses, as well as, works for the construction of buildings and houses that replace others that have previously been demolished. To this effect, the works need to take place within the areas of urban and rural regeneration and renewal, previously demarcated by the corresponding government authority.
Other housing grants and subsidies
In this sense, the Ministry of Transports, Mobility, and Urban Agenda consider, as the implications of these programs show, that housing is one of the basic premises for the service to the community and public healthcare. Besides the programs previously mentioned, there are further actions, such as access to housing or the setting up of grants.
The following list includes all the assistance programs from the State Housing Plan 208-2021, in compliance with the provisions of Articles 10, 11, and 12 of Royal Decree-Law 11/2020 dated 31 March by which urgent complementary social and economic measures are taken to tackle COVID-19:
- Program 1. Subsidization of agreed loans.
- Program 2. Aid for housing rental.
- Program 3. Aid for victims of violence against women, people in situations of eviction of their habitual residence, homeless people, and other particularly vulnerable people.
- Program 4. Promotion of the housing park for rent.
- Program 5. Promotion of the improvement of energy efficiency and sustainability in housing
- Program 6. Promotion of conservation, improvement of security of use, and accessibility in housing.
- Program 7. Promotion of urban and rural regeneration and renewal.
- Program 8.Help for young people.
- Program 9. Promotion of housing for the elderly and people with disabilities.
- Program 10. Aids to help counteract the economic and social impact of COVID-19 in rentals of habitual residence.
How do apply for these grants?
The management of all these aids corresponds to the Autonomous Communities and cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Therefore, anyone interested in requesting them must address themselves to the corresponding Ministry or Department of Housing.
It is important to check the schedule for each Autonomous Community if you wish to apply for grants included in the program to improve energy efficiency and sustainability and the program to promote the conservation, improvement of security of use, and accessibility in housing.
By Autonomous Community:
(*Catalunya is in founding further down)
- Andalucía
- Aragón
- Asturias
- Islas Baleares
- Canarias
- Cantabria
- Castilla-La Mancha
- Castilla y León
- Comunidad Valenciana
- Extremadura
- Galicia
- La Rioja
- Madrid
- Murcia
- Navarra
- País Vasco
- Ceuta
- Melilla
Grants and subsidies search engines and other interesting web pages.
If you need further details on each of the grants or subsidies, in this section you can find and see all the information on the open calls. We will have a look at two search engines.
Infoayudas is a very comprehensive subsidies search engine that uses a simple form so that you can filter and see all aids and subsidies available for a specific sector, according to the type of beneficiary https://www.infoayudas.com/. You can also set alerts so that you do not miss anything.
Another very interesting search engine is Ayudas Subvenciones https://www.ayudas-subvenciones.es/which can be used for the whole state. In fact, in their blog, there is an extensive amount of information on aids and subsidies on housing and, especially, related to reforms and rehabilitation, as well as housing rental and purchase.
It should be noted the previously mentioned aids for the housing rehabilitation 2021 to attract a bigger demand for rehabilitations works on houses, neighborhoods, and communities to improve energy efficiency and to reduce the impact on the environment.
The amendment to the Housing Plan 2018-2022 has extended the deadline to grant support to 31st December 2022. The deadline to complete the works is 24 months from the award of the subsidy, and 26 months in residential areas with more than 40 households.
You can find all the information regarding these aids in the article.
Another call about the impact on the environment is the one about renewable energies and, in particular, the installation of photovoltaic self-consumption. This is one of the most important investments in Spain and, therefore, there are bonuses to promote the installation of solar panels. There is an extensive amount of information on this topic, so we suggest reading this published article which has all the information updated.
Generalitat de Catalunya, all grants and subsidies.
The competent body to process these grants in Catalonia is the Generalitat. On their webpage, you can find very detailed information related to housing in Catalonia, both rental and purchase of a dwelling or the maintenance and rehabilitation of buildings and houses.
In fact, in this section, there is a category named Aids for Rehabilitation with a guide to all available grants. The information of this document has been written in Catalan.
In regards to household maintenance, in this section of the web, you will find recommendations on how to carry out good maintenance of the household, as well as, information concerning all the building’s technical inspections. In our blog, we published information about it a few months ago. We insist on the importance to carry out proper maintenance of the most common services in our house to make it safer, more functional, comfortable, and safer. You can read it here.
In regards to the types of subsidies to promote the rehabilitation that offers the Generalitat de Catalunya, the public bodies of Consorcio de la Vivienda de Barcelona and Consorcio Metropolitano de la Viviendaalso offer grants to rehabilitation that are normally not compatible with the aids offered by the Generalitat.
Photovoltaic self-consumption in Catalonia.
The Catalan Energy Department (Institut Català d’Energia) has a section on their website in which they give detailed information on photovoltaic self-consumption. In the case of Catalonia, the Autonomous Community is heading toward the energy transition, a process that places the citizen in the center of the new energy model and it empowers them. How? Citizens stop being passive consumers and they produce their energy for self-consumption, they store and finally share it with other consumers.
Photovoltaic self-consumption will change the current energy model and will allow households to be self-sufficient and to use the sun as a free and clean source of energy. Whenever there are enough households with photovoltaic self-consumption installations, it will be also possible to commence shared self-consumption using distribution networks between self-consumers all over the country and making solar energy communities possible.
You can read more information about self-consumption, tips and good practices, in an article on this blog through the following link.
Unfortunately, there are currently many false myths and much disinformation regarding self-consumption that is stopping its progress. For this reason, the Institut Català de l’Energia has started a campaign with all the information about photovoltaic self-consumption to expose the myths and encourage citizens to consider this new model of energy consumption as a clean and responsible option that is legal and viable both technically and economically.
If you need further information on the aids and subsidies regarding energy, you can visit http://icaen.gencat.cat/es/energia/ajuts/and check for the next call for aids to promote self-consumption and storage conducted with renewable sources of energy and renewable thermal systems in residential areas.
The program includes the following bonuses:
- Bonus program 1. Carry out the self-consumption installation with renewable energy sources (photovoltaic or wind-powered) in the service sector, with or without storage.
- Bonus program 2. Carry out the self-consumption installation with renewable energy sources (photovoltaic or wind-powered) in the productive sector of the economy, with or without storage.
- Bonus program 3. Inclusion of storage units in already existing self-consumption installations with renewable sources of energy in the service sector and other productive sectors.
- Bonus program 4. Carry out self-consumption installations with renewable sources of energy in the residential sector, public administrations, and the third sector, with or without storage.
- Bonus program 5. Inclusion of storage units in already existing self-consumption installations with renewable sources of energy in the residential sector, public administrations, and the third sector.
- Bonus program 6. Carry out thermal renewable sources of energy installations in the residential sector. This includes technologies using thermal solar, biomass, hydrothermal or aerothermal energies (with exception of technologies using wind-wind) to heating and cooling systems and/ or sanitary hot water in households.
[UPDATE] Approval of the Royal Decree 853/2021, dated 5th October, will boost the rehabilitation of buildings and houses.
Last Monday, 5th October, the Spanish cabinet adopted the Royal Decree 583/2021 (RD) that regulates the aids programs regarding residential rehabilitation and social housing from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR)and that has been provided with €4,420 million. The new Royal Decree organizes the plans into six programs: the first five are related to actions regarding rehabilitation and the sixth is a link to the promotion of building rental social housing.
All six programs are set to boost the rehabilitation and construction of rental social housing and they consider the following aspects:
1. Programme of grants destined for works of rehabilitation in neighborhoods.
The objective of this program is to finance works or rehabilitation of buildings and houses within Residential Areas of Programmed Rehabilitation (ERRP), as long as there is a reduction in the non-renewable primary energy consumption of at least 30% in such buildings.
2. Programme of support aimed at consulting firms.
The program aims to finance rehabilitation consulting firms that offer a wide range of expert services regarding information, paperwork, and support of the rehabilitation on behalf of the Autonomous Communities and Local Entities, that go beyond what is established in the framework action in neighborhoods.
3. Programme of grants aimed at rehabilitation actions in buildings.
The objective of this program is to subsidize rehabilitation works to obtain a proven energy efficiency improvement, in particular in the building envelope of single-family homes and buildings of collective residence typology. In any case, the actions must result in the reduction of the non-renewable primary energy consumption of at least 30%
4. Programme to promote the improvement of energy efficiency in housing.
Its objective is to finance actions or works to improve the energy efficiency in houses built as the owner, beneficial owner, or tenant’s habitual and permanent residences. Only the following actions can be subsidized.
5. Programme to support the drafting of rehabilitation projects and the completion of the Book of Building (LEE)
Its objective is to subsidize the implementation introduction and broadening of the Book of Building as well as the development of technical comprehensive rehabilitation projects in buildings built before 2000 and that is mainly being used as dwellings. In this case, the subsidy will be destined to the completion of the Book of Building for its rehabilitation and the draft of the rehabilitation project in buildings that comply with all requirements established in the Programme of aid aimed at rehabilitation actions in buildings.
6. Programme to support the constructions of social housing in energy-efficient buildings
This program will finance the increase of public energy-efficient housing destined for social rental or at affordable prices during a minimum term of 50 years. To this effect, it will be promoted the construction of a new building on public-owned soil or the rehabilitation of public buildings destined for other uses. These actions must guarantee consumption of non-renewable primary energy of, at least, less than 20% of the requirements from the Technical Building Code.
All the information regarding the grants from the Royal Decree can be found here.
As always, in GRUPO PAGÈS BCN we remain at your disposal for any further information or clarification. You can contact us through our website and other available channels.
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