It will be difficult for the young people of the Pitiusas Islands to have access to the rental bonus presented a few days ago by the Govern. Few will have the option of receiving the 250 euros per month for the “Bo Lloguer Jove” rental bonus, such is the real estate market on the island, which will allocate almost ten million euros between 2022 and 2023. The rental bonus, explained the Balearic president Francina Armengol, the councilor of Housing Josep Marí Ribas Agustinet, and the general director of Housing Cristina Ballester, will benefit about 1,600 young people on the islands between 18 and 35 years, provided they meet certain requirements. And here begin the problems for the rental bonus in the case of the Pitiusas.
The first requirement for the rental bonus is that the rent cannot exceed 900 euros per month. Something practically impossible to find on Ibiza and Formentera. A house with a contract and below that price is the holy grail, the fountain of eternal youth and the philosopher’s stone in the search for housing. You only have to take a look at the real estate portals to see for yourself. The maximum monthly cost was increased by 300 euros in the Balearic Islands. A few months ago, when the central government announced these economic aids to make it easier for young people to access rental housing, the maximum was 600 euros per month. It was already aticipated from the islands that this maximum would be increased, given that the cost of housing on the islands is much higher than in most of the rest of the country.
After consulting a dozen portals (Idealista, Fotocasa, Habitaclia, Milanuncios, Tucasa, Indomio…) there are only three properties that meet the requirements for the rental bonus: 900 euros or less and that do not force tenants to leave the apartment in summer to offer it in high season as a tourist rental. On Formentera the options on these same portals are zero. None. Not a single property for less than 900 euros with an annual contract. In Menorca, on the other hand, doing the same search in these same portals there are about 30 properties. In Mallorca, more than 200.
The first of them is a studio of 40 square meters located in the area of Cala de Bou, which costs 800 euros per month. The owner has not included any photos, but specifies in the description of the ad on Idealista that an annual contract is on offer. The second, which appears in several of the real estate portals, is another mini-apartment located in the Marina area for which the owners are asking 850 euros per month. “The studio is only rented annually and for people with a work contract”, they detail under some images of the apartment of 45 square meters and with a terrace overlooking Dalt Vila. The third is an apartment in the area of Platja d’en Bossa that is offered on Habitaclia for what seems like a bargain, for what the prices are: 400 euros per month. However, although there are several photographs of the interior of the apartment, located on calle Manuel de Falla and which is also for sale, the information about it is unclear.
Below that monthly figure, half a dozen apartments can be found on Ibiza, but with a catch. They are offered for teachers or for people who spend the summer high months away from the island. “We are looking for non-resident teachers on the island who leave the apartment FREE IN THE MONTH OF AUGUST,” reads the text of the ad (in capital letters) of an apartment with dream views of the coast of Sant Joan. A studio of 47 square meters for which they ask 750 euros per month (expenses apart) during the school course. Also for the “school season” is a studio of 35 square meters on a fifth floor in Sant Jordi that Javier rents.
Shared apartments eligible for rental bonus but almost impossible
The “Bo Lloguer Jove” rental bonus does not require that the young person requesting the 250 euros aid lives alone. The rental bonus can be applied for by people under 35 years of age who share an apartment.
Several Pitiusos who are sharing an apartment right now burst out laughing when this part is mentioned. “That’s science fiction,” says Natalia, who has been sharing apartments for years. None of them have given her a contract. “You can only do that if you rent the apartment with someone else. Then you can ask them to put the people who are going to live there as owners, but if someone rents you a room, which is the most common, the contract is in their name and they don’t want to change it,” she continues.
“The housing issue is not such that you can’t be choosy,” says Jordi, who is in the same situation. The young man assures that, in the seven years he has been on the island, he has never managed to get a rental contract from a landlord. “Not even when I have rented entire apartments,” he says. “I have always asked for it in order to have access to aid, but they have never wanted to do it for me,” he laments, ruling out any possibility of applying for the coveted rental bonus. “I pay 700 for a dwarf room”.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.