ICO guarantees will only finance entry for amounts ranging from €325,000 for a house in Madrid to €200,000 in Extremadura.

The guarantee line to cover the 20% down payment for a house, concluded between the Official Credit Institute (ICO) and the government, sets a limit on the price of the house purchased depending on the autonomous community in which it is located. with a range from a maximum price of 200,000 euros in Extremadura to 325,000 euros in Madrid. Thus, in the Madrid region, the price of the purchased house, including extensions, cannot exceed 325,000 euros, while for Catalonia, the Basque Country and the community of Foral in Navarre, this amount is reduced to 300,000 euros. For its part, Extremadura is the autonomy where this price limit is the lowest, since the cost of the purchased house cannot exceed 200,000 euros, followed by Andalusia (225,000 euros). The amount increases to 275,000 euros in the case of Aragon and the Balearic Islands, while in the remaining communities it remains at 250,000 euros.

This is clear from the BOE, which includes the agreement governing this line of guarantee and also states that the home being purchased can be new or used, but it must be built and located within the country. In February last year, the government approved the implementation of a €2,500 million ICO guarantee line to cover a 20% down payment on the purchase of a first home for young people under 35 or families with dependents. guarantee, which can be as high as 25% if the home you are purchasing has an energy rating of D or higher. The guarantee provided will be valid for 10 years from the date of formalization of the transaction, and the period of execution of loans falling under this guarantee line will expire on December 31, 2025, which establishes in the agreement the possibility of extending the guarantee period. According to Efe, the deadline is until 2027.

This line is intended for individuals of full age, with legal residence in Spain, accredited continuously and uninterruptedly for two years before applying for the loan and with an income that does not exceed 37,800 euros gross per year (4.5 times Iprem ). However, among the requirements for accessing this line of credit is that if a house is purchased by two people, the income of the two buyers cannot jointly exceed the amount of the limit set for each of them. The guarantor’s own capital limit will be a maximum of 100,000 euros. The measure includes some improvement factors: the limit established on the basis of Iprem will increase by 0.3 times (2,520 euros gross per year) for each minor dependent, and in the case of a single-parent family, the limit can be increased by an additional 70%.

Those who already own another home in advance will not be able to benefit from this line of guarantee, regardless of the method of acquisition, a requirement that must be observed individually also in the case of two buyers. However, there are some exceptions: when the ownership falls on a multiple of the house and it is received by inheritance or by transfer “mortis” causa without a will or for those people who, being the owners of the house, prove that they are not accessible due to separation or divorce, for any other reason beyond their control, or when the house is inaccessible due to the disability of its owner or the people who are part of their joint residence.

The agreement included in the BOE also states that the home must be used as a habitual and permanent residence, excluding the purchase of commercial premises from this line of guarantee. Likewise, it states that “the house cannot be used for economic activity at the time of execution of the guaranteed loan.” However, a house can be rented when “circumstances arise that necessarily require a change of house, for example, celebrating a marriage, separating spouses, transferring to work, getting a first job or a more profitable job.”

In addition to these ICO guarantees, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MIVAU) plans to invest up to €2,500 million to cover up to 20% of the mortgage loan amount, reaching 25% in cases where the purchased home has an energy rating of D or higher.