Only 2.3% of ICO guarantees for the rental of a habitual residence have been executed in the last year

The mandate was to confine oneself at home to prevent the spread of infections.

But as of March 2020, the difficulty for many was staying in their homes.

With the economy paralyzed and rental income knocking on the door every month, the Government made several grants to guarantee the right to housing of the most vulnerable.

They did not all have the same scope.

One of them, the COVID-19 Leasing Guarantee Line, stands out for its low degree of execution.

A

.

Managed by the

and with an ambitious spending limit of

, as of September 9 of this year only

have been formalized

, according to data provided by the

. In total,

endorsed by the State for the payment of rent, most of which -

-

were granted

by

, CaixaBank and

.

The mechanism was simple. The claimants could request the loan in any of the thirteen banking entities that signed the ICO framework agreement as long as they could demonstrate that they were in a situation of economic vulnerability as a result of the health emergency. Something that is not accessible to everyone. "Many of my relatives were denied it, because they worked without a payroll and did not have ERTE," explains

, a neighbor of

. The requirements to apply for the aid included presenting a certificate of benefits or unemployment subsidy, a family book, a registration certificate, a cadastral certificate and a responsible declaration. A bureaucratic labyrinth in which it was easy to get lost.

"Every time they asked me something," he complains on the other end of the phone.

María lives in a

with five other relatives.

He assures that the first time he tried to request the aid, the bank workers told him that they did not have it.

After learning that it had been granted to a friend, he went back to the branch.

"They told me that my ERTE was very low (below 300 euros a month) and they discouraged me from asking for it, but with the help of my husband they granted it to us," he reproaches.

MAP, ICO GUARANTEES GRANTED

For

, a resident of

, the aid "took three months" but was finally granted. With a family in his charge,

and

he could not pay the rent and chose "to eat." Yamil is one of the

of the neighborhood to the south of the capital that managed to be endorsed by the State. In a district in which most households get ahead with an average income of

- according to

data

- and with an approximate rent of between

per square meter, Aluche is not one of the neighborhoods that accumulate the most credits of this type.

Areas with similar or even higher incomes, such as

(

) or

(

) in Madrid or the coast of

(

) in the Balearic Islands, are those that lead the ranking of credits guaranteed by the State. In fact, this top three provinces with the highest rents in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands) according to

, account for

of the loans granted. The rest of the loans are distributed along the Mediterranean coast, concentrating in areas with high tourist pressure and neighborhoods of middle or lower middle class.

(Girona),

and the

in Madrid or

(Mallorca) are part of this network of territories whose inhabitants have been forced to resort to these loans.

Reasons for failure

The scarce formalization of loans guaranteed by the state invites us to reflect on the little success of the measure. Why has only 2.3% of the endowed credit been executed? Was there no demand? Was the aid well publicized? Was it accessible to all who needed it? Ministry, ICO and banking play hot potato with these questions. Nobody wants to get wet. From the movements in defense of the right to housing, they wield some hypotheses. "People who apply for these grants are already having financial problems that can become worse when they have to go into debt, adds

, spokesman for

. For this reason," some prefer not to apply for these grants. "

From the landings, they sketch with other motifs.

"In my neighborhood, very few people knew about it," says María, who spread the word among her neighbors when she received the help.

For Yamil, it has to do with the bureaucratic barrier that some foreigners encounter when they arrive in Spain, and he argues that although the regulations ensure equal access for all people to this help, he suspects that "the bank always looks at those things." .

From his experience, "having a DNI is not the same as a NIE"

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Madrid

• Catalonia

• Spain

• Balearics

• Majorca

• Girona

• CaixaBank

• Unemployment

• Covid 19

• Beaches

• economy

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