Housing

The Barcelona Rental Housing Pool is the result of the merger between the Rental Social Housing Pool and the Rental Pool for Young People.

The Rental Housing Pool has been under the control of the Barcelona Housing Consortium since 2009 and it is administered through the Housing Offices network.

The Rental Housing Pool offers mediation services between the owners of empty properties and possible tenants. Its aim is to increase the number of affordable rented dwellings and to make them available to dwelling units and young people between the ages of 18 and 35 who meet the Rental Pool's access requirements. This mediation also aims to ensure access to housing while providing security for the owners who make their property available.

Telephone: 931229494. This telephone is only for homeowners interested in including their home in the Barcelona Rental Housing Exchange program.

The advantages and subsidies for the owners who assign their properties to the Rental Pool are as follows:

• Avalloguer is a system for covering rent payments, which means that the property owner is guaranteed the payment of a maximum amount that is equivalent to 6 months unpaid rent, once a court ruling has been issued.
• Multi-risk insurance policy for the entire duration of the contract.
• An insurance policy covering legal defence in the case of non-payment.
• Processing of the Certificate of Occupancy and/or the Certificate of Energy Efficiency (excluding tariffs in both cases), provided that the rental contract is formalised through Rental Pool mediation.
• A subsidy from the Barcelona Housing Consortium for habitability work or for adapting property interiors, in accordance with its terms and conditions and where the official notice regulating it has been published.
• Tax discount from Barcelona City Council equivalent to 95% of the IBI property tax.
• Technical and legal advice.
• Drafting of the contract and mediation for signing the contract.
• Monitoring of contractual obligations, mainly in cases of non-payment.
• Drafting of the contract termination agreement where this is requested.
• For further information go to Regulatory Standards for the Barcelona Rental Housing Pool.
• Since this subsidy is public and involves a capital income, the beneficiary has the obligation to present the income tax declaration, which must also include the received amount.

Aid subject to call. Currently, this aid is NOT active.

Owners who put their empty properties in the Rental Housing Pool can apply for a €1,500 subsidy. This €1,500 sum is available to owners irrespective of the rent they have agreed to and the time that has passed since the signing of the contract. It may be applied for on signing the Pool Inclusion Agreement and will always be paid out, provided the rental contract has been signed.

As an exception, homes that already have tenants who do not have any rental contract will be considered, where their situation may be regularised by the signing of a Pool contract.

Adaptations can be made to meet the requirements for tax discount equivalent to 95% of Property Tax (IBI) payments.

Requirements:

1. Subsidy Applications at Housing Offices
2. Checking Requirements (Pool – Flat Acquisition) and proposed resolution (Rental Aid). A copy of the resolution will be forwarded to the owner when the rental contract is signed.
3. The financial management will carried out through the Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation, with a request for monthly payments.

See the announcement of the 2023 call closing (CAT)

The Pool's mediation service is offered for managing rent collections and payments to owners, through the "Rent Mediation" system and the creation of a guaranteed fund from the Barcelona Housing Consortium.

Rent payments for the last quarter of 2016 are guaranteed through emergency aid under the SSAH programme.

Requirements:

• The Pool manages the signing of rental contracts between owners and tenants
• The contracted company will manage rent collections and payments
  
  • Managing rent collections (7th day of every month)
  • Managing payments to owners (10th day of every month)
• Where rent is not paid, the Department of Decent Use will be notified, so it can activate the Housing Protection and Mediation Service (SPIMH).
• Unpaid rent will be managed through the SPIMH and financial aid provided for the rent
• The contracted company:
  
  • Will make monthly reports on the situation of unpaid rent and the Monitoring Committee will authorise the Guarantee Fund's application.
  • The Fund will be settled and updated every year.
• Financial management will be carried out through the Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation.

This aid is a guarantee for the collection of unpaid rent.

If the contract is subject to rent mediation, the managing company will inform the Barcelona Rental Housing Pool's technical services of the unpaid rent within the same month. The case will be referred to the Housing Protection and Mediation Service (SPIMH), which will examine the situation and establish how to proceed. Depending on the assessment made, it will opt for:

• Negotiating the debt
• Aid for paying the debt
• Aid for paying the rent
• In certain situations, an assessment will also be made concerning possible re-accommodation in a cheaper Pool flat or other residential resource.

Legal proceedings (the Pool's Legal Defence Cover) will have to be initiated in exceptional cases. In such cases, the owners will have their rent covered until they recover possession of their property (Eviction proceedings or Out-of-Court Settlement). This situation is incompatible with AVALLOGUER (6 months).

Requirements:

1. Report from the SPIMH with assessment
2. Checking requirements, out-of-court settlement with the owners (through the Housing Offices or the Pool's Legal Services) and proposed resolution)
3. Financial management will be carried out through the Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation.

In view of the current housing emergency, the Barcelona Housing Consortium is aiming to regularise new Rental Housing Pool contracts to avoid eviction procedures.

Aid for debts with legal proceedings is proposed as a management tool for maintaining housing in negotiations with owners. It is a subsidy for involving properties involved in legal proceedings, whose unpaid rent has led to a legal claim or ruling.

Terms and conditions for aid with legal proceedings:

• It enables the payment of debt arrears of up to a maximum of €6,000
• It is incompatible with Avalloguer
• It is incompatible with Empty Housing Subsidies (€1,500)
• It is conditional to the signing of a contract (with the Pool's mediation) and a commitment to keeping the same family or household in the property.
• Depending on the income of the family or household, an application may be considered for subsidies for the Pool's rent payments as "implicit" aid

Requirements:

• Processing the Subsidy for paying accumulated debt under legal proceedings or out-of-court settlement (through the Housing or Rental Aid Offices)
• Termination of the current contract in accordance a the court ruling or out-of-court settlement (through the Housing Offices or Pool's Legal Services)
• Signing of a new contract with the Rental Housing Pool
• Properties with Habitability Certificates (HC), Energy Efficiency Certificates (EEC) and without any need for renovation have to apply for:
  
  • Subsidies for rent arrears
  • A new contract with the Pool

• Properties without Habitability Certificates (HC), Energy Efficiency Certificates (EEC) and without any need for renovation have to apply for:
  
  • Subsidies for rent arrears
  • Habitability Certificate and/or Energy Efficiency Certificate
  • A new contract with the Pool

• Properties in need of habitability work:

• If minor work is required (work compatible with the presence of the tenant), the following has to be applied for:
  • Subsidy for the work
  • Subsidies for rent arrears
  • Habitability Certificate and/or Energy Efficiency Certificate
  • A new contract with the Pool

• If major work is required (work incompatible with the presence of the tenant), the following has to be applied for:

• Commitment to include the property in the Pool at the end of the work
• Subsidy for the work
• Subsidy for rent arrears and HC and/or EEC procedures
• Habitability Certificate and/or Energy Efficiency Certificate
• A new contract with the Pool

Currently, this aid is NOT active.

This subsidy covers up to 100% of the amount of the rehabilitation works, with a maximum of 20,000 euros.

To access this subsidy, the homes must be placed at the disposal of the Rental Home Pool. The lease that is formalized must have a duration of one year extendable up to five years, in the event that the said lease is terminated in the first two years, the beneficiary of the grant will be required to formalize a new rental contract with the mediation of the Barcelona Rental Home Pool for a minimum period of one year extendable up to five years in the case of properties of natural persons and one year extendable up to seven years in the case of property of legal persons.

The subsidisable actions are the following:

• Obtaining habitability
• Adaptation of the facilities inside the house and improvement of habitability
• Adaptation of the interior mobility of the house
• Energy improvements and sustainability

Check the specific requirements and the documentation to be provided to the announcement of renovation subsidies.

Requirements for your property's inclusion in the Rental Pool

Your property must meet the following conditions for inclusion in the Rental Pool:

• It must be located in the city of Barcelona
• It must have a Habitability Certificate or satisfy the conditions for obtaining it.
• It must be put up for rent through the Rental Pool.
• It must have an Energy Efficiency Certificate or satisfy the conditions for obtaining it.

Background of the properties:

• Properties directly from the private market
• Social-housing properties with rental authorisation from the Generalitat of Catalonia
• Properties from the Barcelona Housing Consortium's Redevelopment Programme

For further information consult the Barcelona Rental Housing Pool's Regulatory Standards.

Documents that have to be presented and forms

To include your property in the Rental Housing Pool:

Application form (CAT) for “renting out a property through the Barcelona Rental Housing Pool”.

To apply for subsidies:

Subsidy for the inclusion of dwellings in the Rental Hosing Pool programme.​

• Application Form [CAT]

Tax discount equivalent to 95% of Property Tax (IBI) payments

Once the property has been included in the Barcelona Rental Housing Pool, and while it remains available for rent.

• Tax discount application form (CAT). When the contract is signed, the Declaration of Assets of Municipal Interest is requested and the tax discount remains during the social rental contract.
• Bank information sheet (CAT) certified by the financial institution.
• A property tax (IBI) receipt from the current year (for instalment payments, you only need to produce the receipt for one instalment).

Subsidies for construction work.

Check the official call for renovation-aid applications.

For further information consult the Barcelona Rental Housing Pool's Regulatory Standards (CAT).