Public housing construction throughout Spain is facing a year in which the first developments will see the light of day and many others will be planned for 2027 and 2028. In the Valencian Community, most of the public housing supply for rent depends on the EVHA ( Entitat Valenciana d’Habitatge i Sòl), in addition to the supply provided by local councils such as Valencia through companies such as AUMSA ( Actuaciones Urbanas Municipales S.A.).
With rents in Valencia exceeding €1,000 for a flat of barely 40 square meters, in a property of this type, rents can range from €300 to €600 on average.
To access these properties, applicants must meet a series of requirements, which are detailed below:
Requirements for accessing affordable rental housing in the Valencian Community
The housing offered by EVHA has different criteria to those that can be requested by a local council such as Valencia, Torrent, or Paterna.
In the case of the autonomous community, the first requirement (which also applies to local housing supply) is to be registered as an applicant in the Valencian Community Housing Registry.
In addition, a minimum income must be justified to ensure that the cost of the rent without subsidies does not exceed 25%, plus community fees.
The EVHA, through its technical department, is responsible for assessing these criteria in each property allocation based on two aspects: the suitability of the housing offered to the needs of the household; and the socioeconomic situation of the household.
Each call for applications may have specific requirements, such as one of the latest launched in Alberic, with rents ranging from €294 to €431 for young people under 35 and units for people over 60.
Requirements for accessing affordable rental housing in Valencia
Last January, Valencia City Council updated the criteria that will now govern applications for publicly owned rental housing. For example, the age limit will be extended to 45 for many of the tenders, and priority will be given to people who have been registered in the city for more than seven years.
Unlike the Generalitat, Valencia applies a waiting list criterion in order of application in the allocation process, provided that the requirements are met, where disposable income and the effort rate also come into play.
Basically, the household must have a minimum annual income of 0.5 times the IPREM and a maximum of 4.5 times the IPREM. In other words, €2,700 as the maximum monthly income per unit (IPREM of €600 x 4.5 times).
In addition, the housing requested must always be the applicant’s primary residence, and they must not own any other properties.
How to find affordable rental properties in Valencia
Both the Valencia City Council and the Generalitat Valenciana publish the calls for applications open throughout the year on their respective websites, as do other local councils that carry out these initiatives.