They expand loans to young people to buy an apartment: they will cover renovations and purchase of HPO

BarcelonaSalvador Illa's government continues to give momentum to one of the star measures of its term: loans for young people for the first purchase of an apartment or house to serve as their primary residence. Now they will also be able to be used to finance rehabilitation works and purchase homes that already have official protection (HPO) status, as reported by the regional minister and government spokesperson, Sílvia Paneque, in a press conference this Tuesday.

The so-called emancipation loans finance up to 20% of the property's value – the down payment that banks usually do not cover – up to a maximum of 50,000 euros. Since they came into operation in June 2025, the Generalitat has expanded the number of people who can access them by raising the maximum age from 35 to 40, and allowing the purchase of garages and storage rooms located in the same building, even if they are not part of the same registered property.

raising the maximum age from 35 to 40, and allowing the purchase of garages and storage rooms located in the same building, even if they are not part of the same registered property.

Paneque highlighted that the extension of the use of the 50,000 euros to also include rehabilitation is "very important in rural environments" and old town centers that, in several medium-sized cities in Catalonia, are degraded by demographic changes and new architectural trends. This is the case, for example, in Valls, Manresa, Balaguer, or Tortosa.

Same annual budget

Despite expanding the number of potential beneficiaries and the scenarios in which it can be used, the Catalan government is maintaining the initial budget of 100 million euros per year. Before the summer, sources from the Generalitat already assured ARA that they would expand the fund "in case it becomes necessary." Paneque has boasted about the "success" of the measure: as she detailed this Tuesday, it has been used to purchase 2,000 apartments and 3,000 people have benefited from it.

In the first year of the initiative's operation, the Generalitat distributed 91.4 million euros, as reported by ARA. By the beginning of July, 50.5 million had been paid out, corresponding to the purchase of 1,387 homes, and the rest were awaiting the formalization of the operation before a notary.

Municipalities will be able to extend the loan

The Catalan government has also put on the table the possibility that municipalities can increase loans above 50,000 euros, charged to their budgets, through agreements between local administrations, the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF, which manages the loans), and the Catalan Housing Agency.

The average of the granted loans is 36,633 euros, and the total cost of the apartments is 190,834 euros. According to the Generalitat, the average sale price in Catalonia in the year 2025 was 240,460 euros, 26% more.

Young people will have to return the money without interest in the three years after having finished paying the mortgage and, in exchange, the property will become part of the affordable housing stock. This qualification limits its sale price, but ensures that young people do not sell the property for a value lower than what they paid for it: they will be able to set the same price and add the CPI and the cost of certain renovations.