Pedro Sánchez highlights the agreement to approve the 2022 Budget, which includes a youth bonus of 250 euros per month for renting

Sánchez has announced that the accounts will include a special plan for young people to gain access to housing and a youth bonus for renting.

This voucher, worth 250 euros a month for two years, will benefit young people between 18 and 35 years of age, with income from work and an annual income of under 23,725 euros. In the case of the most vulnerable families, this may be complemented by additional direct rental subsidies of up to 40%.

"We are talking about a fair economic recovery and this means facilitating access to housing, especially for those who are most vulnerable to precariousness, such as our young people", Sánchez stressed at an event organised by UN-Habitat, which was attended by the Minister for Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez; the President of the Andalusian Regional Government, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, and the Mayor of Seville, Juan Espadas. In this sense, the President of the Government of Spain has advocated the need to bring the age of emancipation for young people forwards to bring it closer to the European average.

Sánchez has also assured that the Government will approve the first State Housing Law in Spanish democracy, which will offer "legal coverage for social and protected housing". The agreement within the coalition Government, he stressed, will make a solid, comprehensive and cross-cutting law guaranteeing rights possible.

Likewise, the head of the Executive announced the approval by the Council of Ministers of two key measures to promote residential renovations in Spain, which are part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Fernando CalvoFirstly, a Royal Decree regulating aid for housing renovations. The package of measures covered by this regulation includes aid for the renovation of housing and urbanisation or redevelopment of public spaces or neighbourhoods, aimed at providing incentives for work on buildings to improve energy efficiency, covering up to 80% of the cost depending on the savings achieved, and to encourage energy improvements in individual homes, which can cover up to 40% of the cost.

The Council of Ministers also approved a Royal Decree-Law that adds new Personal Income Tax deductions for housing renovations worth 450 million euros and an ICO guarantees facility of 1.1 billion euros to encourage energy efficiency works. These new housing measures are in addition to those developed by the Government over the last three years.

"This wide range of active housing policies will continue to be deployed over the next two years", added Sánchez, who pointed out that his goal is to complete an unprecedented legislature "in favour of housing policies".

In total, the Government expects to allocate 6.82 billion euros from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan to urban regeneration, construction of social rental housing in energy-efficient buildings and renovations. The Government's objective is to carry out more than half a million housing renovation actions in the coming years.

Sánchez announced that, in line with the New European Bauhaus initiative, the Government will soon present the Architecture Quality Act, a new regulatory instrument that will allow European funds to have a direct positive impact on citizens.

"We need cohesive and sustainable cities that are clean and conducive to the emancipation of young people. These are the objectives," he remarked. In his words, the instruments for this will be the new youth housing bonus, the macro-boost for renovations, sustainable mobility standards and the Architecture Law.

Non official translation