- The foreclosed homes amount to 446 and the signed contracts to 412, very close to the figure for all of 2013
- The measures put in place by the Government to alleviate the problem of evictions have benefited 20,000 families
- Both the rental housing fund and eviction moratorium 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 expansion of the requirements for access to one of the 6,000 homes with reduced rent that 33 financial entities have contributed to the FSV, has resulted in an increase in applications. These improvements cover practically all groups with special needs derived from the crisis, paying particular attention to family circumstances. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos has announced in the Senate that the Government is considering 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 translated into 446 foreclosed homes and 412 signed contracts. During the entire first year of the FSV's implementation, 1,537 applications were received, 780 were awarded and 481 contracts were signed. The significant 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 relaxed at a reduced price (between 150 and 400 euros per month). The FSV was created 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 from 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 housing, as long as their income was less than triple the IPREM (Multiple Effects Public Income Indicator, 532.5 euros per month currently), whose mortgage payment exceeds 50% of their income and that in the previous four years their economic circumstances have been significantly altered, in addition to people affected by the unemployment situation 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). Until then, minors were required to be no more than three years old.
b) People in situations of dependency or with disabilities for which the home is, according to 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 greater.
c) Elderly people in a pre-retirement or retirement situation who have taken over the debts of their children or grandchildren through a guarantee. This circumstance is new.
d) Other people 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 De Guindos minister 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 paralysis expires. To date, the moratorium in force has allowed the suspension of more than 10,000 launches. In addition, some 1,400 families have agreed to a reduced rent from the FSV and the Code of Good Practice has allowed 6,500 debt restructurings and more than 2,100 payments. In total, some 20,000 families have benefited from the set of measures put in place by the Government during the Legislature to alleviate the problem of evictions.
