Clara Fernández pays 400 euros for her room, but is rented without a contract. Roger Santacreu shares a flat, but the rent is 1,200 euros. Javier de la Sotilla has moved to Barcelona for work, but is not registered there. All three would do well to be able to welcome the good young man, but they can’t. One week ago, the Spanish government approved this aid of 250 euros per month for two years, intended for people between 18 and 35 years of age who live on rent. The aim is to alleviate the difficulties that young people have in gaining independence; in European countries the age of emancipation is close to 26 years, while in Spain, on average, it takes almost four more years.
The big handicap of the good youth is the maximum threshold of the monthly rental price: it cannot exceed 600 euros and, in certain cases, it can be extended to 900 – Catalonia is one of the communities that has requested the increase. This condition obviates the reality of cities like Barcelona, where the average rent is 932.32 euros, and according to the spokeswoman of the Tenants’ Union, Carme Arcarazo, the measure will have a limited effect and can make landlords take advantage of the help raise prices.
But the requirements do not end there. Young people with an annual income of more than 24,319 euros, an amount equivalent to three times the public indicator of income with multiple effects (IPREM), are excluded from the aid. You must also present three payrolls from a current employment contract and be registered in the municipality where you reside. As a result, the Spanish government estimates that the youth bond will have 70,000 beneficiaries throughout the state, a minimum figure knowing that in Barcelona alone there are 389,501 inhabitants between 18 and 35 years old. Those who meet all these requirements will be able to apply for the youth voucher, which has been retroactive since 1 January, when the Spanish government will sign the agreements with the autonomous communities in a few months. At ARA we spoke to different young people in Barcelona who have difficulty paying rent but are left out of the aid.
Roger Santacreu, 28, a clerk in an interior design shop: “I share a flat because I can’t afford it”
Roger shares a flat in Barcelona with three other people, as the 17,000 euros gross he earns a year does not allow him to live alone. Or not at least in an apartment “big and with conditions” better than the tiny studios that are rented for 600 euros. She studied design and has been working as a clerk in an interior design shop for three years, where she has been working indefinitely. You can’t apply for the youth voucher because the rent for the flat you share is 1,200 euros, which is distributed among the four to about 300 each without counting the bills. He also does not believe that going to live in a flat of 40 square meters paying 500 or 600 euros a month and with the help you get out of mind: “What you have to do is regulate the rental price and be realistic with our situation”.
Clara Fernández, 25, communications consultant: “There was no way they could make me a contract”
Room rentals are also included in the youth voucher and in this case the maximum threshold has been extended to 450 euros for rent. The problem is that many of the people who rent a room do not end up on the lease and no room contract is made for them, so they are excluded from the aid. This is what happens to Clara Fernández. She is 25 years old and from Lleida, but a month and a half ago she got a job as a consultant in a communication agency in Barcelona and had to look for a place to stay. “I pay 400 euros for the room and they haven’t signed me,” Clara laments. The reason? “To make the change to the lease you have to pay about 100 euros and my colleagues give me long,” says Clara, who explains that she has neither the time nor the money to look for another flat.
Javier de la Sotilla, 24, journalist: “The requirement to be registered does not take into account the temporary nature”
“The requirement to be registered does not take into account our reality. Many of us come from outside Barcelona to work for a specific period of time and, given the temporary nature of our work, it is likely that we will be forced to leave the city in the future ”. Javier is from Cambrils and is registered there, but three months ago he found a job in Barcelona where he earns 18,322 euros gross per year and has rented a room for which he pays 425 euros a month. He also does not appear in writing in the flat contract and does not know if he intends to register in case he has to return to Cambrils.
De la Sotilla does not see the good young man as “realistic” or a feasible solution: “If we want to encourage the emancipation of young people, we should go to the root of the problem: fight the high unemployment rate and job insecurity among those under 35, or opting for the regulation of rents. “
Andreu has been renewed as a fellow since September 2020.
Laia Catalán, 25, coordinator of clinical trials in the Vall d’Hebron: “In Barcelona you won’t find a flat for 600 or 900 euros”
Until recently, Laia Catalán lived with her parents in Poblenou. He rented a flat in Ciutat Vella for 1,100 euros with two of his friends and they furnished it from scratch. “It has not been easy because I have left almost all the savings to pay for admission,” says Catalán. She had been saving for a while to be able to make the move, but it was not decided until in December she was renewed for another six months in the Vall d’Hebron, where she works as a coordinator of clinical trials. She will also not be able to access the aid, which she believes is not fair to the reality of the big cities: “In Barcelona, which is where most job opportunities are, you won’t find a flat for 600 euros or 900 euros.” .
Andreu Punsola, 24, a fellow in an engineering technical consultancy: “If the prices were reasonable, there would be no need for aid to fill the pockets of the owners”
Three payrolls from a current contract and a guarantee to continue charging for the next six months. This is a difficult requirement for someone like Andreu Punsola, who has an engineering degree but is on an internship contract while finishing his master’s degree. Since September 2020, he explains, he has been renewed as a fellow. He has not seen a single non-internship contract and all of them have been temporary. 65.6% of the contracts signed last year in Catalonia lasted less than a year.
With this situation and a gross salary of 9,500 euros a year for 30 hours a week you have to pay a rent of 1,200 euros that you share with three other people. Andreu knows that he will not be able to receive 250 euros from the good young man, although he does not believe that he should exist. “If housing prices were reasonable and consistent with what is being charged, there would be no need for state funding to fill the pockets of homeowners, who are already earning enough.”