Support for rent-to-own and permanent housing will be transferred on May 30 and should reach about 35,000 families, confirmed this Monday to DN/Dinheiro Vivo, an official source of the Housing Ministry, after commentator Luís Marques Mendes shared the information on Sunday evening. on SIC. The payment of these subsidies, the average monthly value of which is around 87 euros, has retroactive effect to January, according to the guardianship. That is, these families already receive the 87 euros for the first five months of the year this month, which is 435 euros.
It means that the retroactive effect will be processed in the first transfer of value: “The support will start retroactively to 1/1/2023, with the retroactive portion being paid in the first month of support,” according to an explanatory document published on the government website.
Created by the executive to mitigate the effects of inflation on the value of rents, the measure should cover 150,000 households with tenancy or sub-lease contracts for owner-occupied and permanent housing completed and duly completed before March 15. registered with the Tax Authorities (AT). To qualify, tenants must have an effort percentage (monthly income related to installment payment) equal to or greater than 35% and annual taxable income not exceeding $38,632 (6th step of the IRS), which is that is, already after the reduction of the specific deduction in the IRS of 4104 euros.
Tenants with contracts signed on March 15 who have an effort percentage of more than 35% and an annual taxable income of up to 38,632 euros are eligible.
“The data processing” to determine the values of support and eligible households “is being done in stages”, explained the Ministry of DN/DV headed by Marina Gonçalves. So “the first payments to households with exclusive income from Security”, that is to families receiving only social benefits, “will be processed on May 30”, the guardianship revealed, adding that in this first phase “there are 34 937 beneficiaries and the average monthly amount is 86.72 euros or 1040.64 euros per year.
Remember that the maximum monthly amount of the subsidy is 200 euros. Processing is automatic and done exclusively via Social Security bank transfer, so tenants must have their IBAN updated on the Social Security Direct portal. The rental contribution is paid every six months and not every month if the amount of support is less than 20 euros.
Most households receive later
In April, Finance Minister Fernando Medina announced that the grant should cover 150,000 families. So apart from the approximately 35 thousand households receiving support on 30 May, the remaining approximately 115 thousand will not benefit from the contribution until later.
The Ministry of Housing clarified that “in the coming days the government will have the exact number of TA income households that will be able to access the aid, as well as the average monthly value”. This means that the Tax and Customs Administration is currently conducting a survey among tenants with work or other remuneration, excluding social benefits, who meet the maximum annual taxable income ceiling of a maximum of EUR 38,632. For these cases, “the processing of the aid (with retroactive effect to January) will be done in the coming weeks”, Marina Gonçalves’ office guaranteed, indicating that “all beneficiaries will receive a message from the tax authorities with the data that were at the origin of the support calculation.
The aim of the grant is to reduce the effort rate to levels equal to or less than 35%. For example, a couple with a child who earns 1750 euros per month and pays 800 euros to the landlord, is entitled to 188 euros per month. The effort percentage therefore drops from 45.7% to 35%. However, there are situations in which the effort percentage, even if you lose weight, remains above 35%, because the maximum support is 200 euros. For example, a couple with two children who earn 2500 euros per month and pay 1200 euros in rent will receive 200 euros per month. With this grant, the effort rate drops from 48% to 40%.
Unlike the interest subsidy on housing loans, which sets a maximum debt of 250 thousand euros, the rent support for owner-occupied and permanent homes has no maximum payment ceilings. “There are no income ceilings by typology that limit the granting of this support,” said a questions and answers document published on the government’s website. Therefore, any amount of income is eligible, as long as the eligibility criteria for the measure are met.
The payment is automatic. Tenants therefore do not have to ask for it, as with a credit interest subsidy. “The aid is calculated by the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU) and paid by the Social Security, by bank transfer, to the IBAN constant in its information system,” said the same executive branch note.
The measure will be in effect until 2028 and the situation of each beneficiary family will be reassessed at the end of each year.
Salomé Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
