- The aid covers €250 a month of rent for two years for young people on limited incomes.
- Income and maximum-rent requirements are applied through each region’s own call for applications.
- Both tenants and landlords will need to take care over the formalisation and documentation of the lease.
On Tuesday 18 January 2022 the Council of Ministers approved Royal Decree 42/2022, which regulates the Youth Rent Voucher and the State Plan for access to housing 2022-2025. The BOE published it on Wednesday 19 January. Management lies with the autonomous communities and with Ceuta and Melilla; the decree does not apply in the Basque Country or Navarre.
It matters because it arrives at a time of high rents in cities such as Barcelona, and because it affects two sides at once. It offers young people who want to leave the family home direct help, and it shows landlords how public housing finance will be reinforced in the coming years. Each autonomous community will have to open its own call, with timetables that may differ from one territory to another.
Who can apply
People up to 35 years of age, including that year, who live in a rented home or room as their main residence can apply. The annual income of the household cannot exceed three times the IPREM, the public indicator used as a reference for aid. For a rented room, only the tenant’s income is counted. The decree distinguishes between renting a whole home and renting a room, and adapts the rent ceilings to each case.
If the young person moves to another province or region, the limit rises to four times the IPREM. The aid is granted for two years and covers €250 a month, up to the actual amount of the rent. It is a fixed sum, not a percentage, so its relative weight is greater when the rent is low.
The rent ceiling
The royal decree sets a maximum rent of €600 a month for a home and €300 for a room. The autonomous communities may raise it to €900 and €450 respectively, with studies to justify it and prior agreement with the Ministry. In high-price areas such as Barcelona, this limit will be decisive in determining which leases qualify. It should be borne in mind that the ceiling is a requirement for access to the aid and not a limit on the price the parties agree in the lease.
For landlords, the ceiling does not regulate the price they can ask in general: it only determines which rents can be accompanied by the aid. In practice, though, it may influence negotiations, especially for small flats or rooms aimed at young people, where the tenant will have an interest in adjusting the rent to qualify for the voucher. Landlords who rent to young people would do well to know these ceilings before setting the rent, in case the tenant intends to apply for the aid.
What to review
The Ministry transfers the funds and each autonomous community will open its own call, with its own deadlines and procedure. Until then, the prudent course is to prepare the documentation: a written lease, proof of income and rent payments, and evidence that the property is the main residence.
Families who help a young child or relative to rent should consider how the voucher fits with their financial support. Landlords, for their part, would do well to keep their leases in order, with the deposit lodged and the rent paid through the bank. Your adviser can help you review contracts before the calls open. And since the aid is temporary, it is worth the young person planning from the start what will happen to the rent when the two years are over.
Each region will set its own deadlines, so the useful information will come from its call and not from the decree.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
