The Generalitat allows the Emancipation Loan to be used for home renovations

Interest-free loans of up to 50,000 euros from the Emancipation Loan can also finance home renovations. The Executive Council, approved on Tuesday, October 20, also increased the Pla de Barris budget from 200 to 300 million.

According to moncloa.com, the Catalan Government has decided to expand the use of the Emancipation Loan, the fund with which the Generalitat helps young people pay the deposit for their first home. The agreement was finalised on Tuesday, October 20 in the Executive Council, and was announced at a press conference by the Minister and spokesperson for the Executive, Sílvia Paneque.

The fund maintains its annual allocation of 100 million euros, channelled through the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF). What changes is the purpose of the money and who can access it. Interest-free loans of up to 50,000 euros per applicant are intended for individuals up to 40 years old who are buying their first home.

The most visible new feature for those already considering applying is that this same amount can be allocated to renovation works when necessary. Additionally, the loan will also serve to purchase homes that are already part of the official protection scheme, not just properties on the free market. So far, more than 3,000 people have used the fund to acquire over 2,000 homes, which have been added to the protected housing stock.

Another change affects municipalities, regional councils, and provincial governments, which will be able to integrate their own aid programmes within those of the Generalitat. Until now, citizens had to choose between administrations and, at times, were excluded from the highest aid due to not meeting a minor requirement from another. The average loan granted to date is around 36,633 euros, and the average age of beneficiaries is 29 and a half years.

In parallel, the Executive Council increased the budget for the second call of the Pla de Barris from 200 to 300 million euros, the programme with which the Generalitat intervenes in old town centres and degraded neighbourhoods. For this call, launched in the summer, 117 municipalities have applied, which is 34 more than in the first edition. That round distributed 232 million among 20 projects.

For residents of the municipalities that apply, the outcome will determine which works reach their neighbourhood and in what timeframe. The provisional resolution will be published in the coming weeks, according to the spokesperson, and until then, no municipality knows if it will be included in the distribution.

The agreement signed with Comuns sets an annual target of 400 million euros for the Pla de Barris, so the 300 million approved do not cover the entire forecast. A third allocation of 100 million remains to be called, which currently has no date on the Government's calendar. Paneque acknowledged that this call is pending scheduling.

The Generalitat had already raised the maximum age for accessing the loan from 35 to 40 years in May. With the current allocation and the average loan, the fund could finance around 2,700 loans per year if the planned budget is exhausted. Interested parties can check the conditions and processing at the Catalan Institute of Finance.