- The foreclosed homes amount to 446 and the contracts signed to 412, very close to the 2013 figure
- The measures implemented by the Government to alleviate the problem of evictions have benefited 20,000 families
- Both the rental housing fund and the moratorium on evictions could be extended
The Social Housing Fund (FSV) received 1,067 applications during the second quarter of 2014, a still preliminary figure that represents an important advance since its launch in January 2013. The extension of the requirements for access to one of the 6,000 Housing with reduced rent that 33 financial institutions have contributed to the FSV, has resulted in an increase in applications. These improvements cover practically all the groups with special needs derived from the crisis, paying special attention to family circumstances. The Economy Minister, Luis de Guindos, has announced in the Senate that the Government is studying an extension of both the FSV and the moratorium on evictions.
The number of applications in the second quarter of the year (1,067) has resulted in 446 foreclosed homes and 412 signed contracts. During the entire first year of FSV commissioning, 1,537 applications were received, 780 were awarded and 481 contracts were signed. The important advance between the months of April and June of this year responds to the fact that the access requirements for this type of rental housing have been made more flexible at a reduced price (between 150 and 400 euros per month). The FSV was established after the signing of an agreement between the Ministries of Economy, Development, Health, the main credit institutions, the Federation of Municipalities and the Third Sector Platform in January 2013. It expires in January 2015 and could be extended by according to what was announced by De Guindos.
The initial requirements established that families evicted as of January 1, 2008 could have access to FSV homes, provided their income was less than triple the IPREM (Public Indicator of Multiple Effects Income, 532.5 euros per month at the present time), whose mortgage quota exceeds 50% of their income and that in the previous four years would have significantly altered their economic circumstances, in addition to people affected by unemployment and without benefits, single-parent families, large families or violence of genre.
In May of this year, the FSV Monitoring and Coordination Commission expanded the requirements in order to accommodate more people and families in difficulties. Specifically, it was decided to enter:
a) Family units with minor children (18 years old). Until then it was required that the minors were not more than three years old.
b) Persons in a situation of dependency or with disabilities for whom housing implies, in accordance with the report of the competent Social Services, an indispensable asset for the maintenance of their social inclusion and autonomy. The requirement until then was a disability of 33% or higher.
c) Elderly people in a situation of pre-retirement or retirement who, through guarantee, have assumed the debts of their children or grandchildren. This circumstance is new.
d) Other persons or family units with circumstances of social vulnerability different from the previous ones, previous report of the Social Services, which extended the access to the FSV to many situations of social risk not typified.
As announced today by the minister of De Guindos in the Senate, to these improvements will be added a possible extension in the moratorium for evictions that occur from May 2015, which is when the current stoppage expires. To date, the current moratorium has allowed the suspension of more than 10,000 launches. In addition, some 1,400 families have agreed to a reduced rent of the FSV and the Code of Good Practice has allowed 6,500 debt restructuring and more than 2,100 payments in payment. In total, some 20,000 families have benefited from the set of measures implemented by the Government during the Legislature to alleviate the problem of evictions.
