THE Balearic government has stretched out a helping hand to young people trying to get a foothold on the property ladder.
The news coincides with the release of a report which reveals that in the Balearics young people have to spend 62 per cent of their salaries on mortgages, nine points higher than the national average and topped only by Madrid (69.9 per cent) and the Basque country (66.9 per cent). The Balearic government yesterday signed an agreement with the savings banks Sa Nostra and La Caixa, which will give people in the 18 to 35 age group access to a mortgage at a preferential interest right and for which they will not have to provide a guarantee. After the signing Jaume Matas said it was one of the most important measures in housing matters in this legislature.
Among conditions are that the beneficiaries must be able to show that they have held a steady job for more than a year or have been self employed for more than a year. Applicants must fill in a form which has to be stamped by the architecture and housing board or the Ibavi (Balearic Housing Institute) offices and then taken to the bank. Matas said that this new measure should solve the chief problem young people have in purchasing their first home.
It will mean that they will be able to purchase a house costing 175'000 euros for about 600 euros a month, without making a down payment.
The highest price of a property which can be purchased with these special mortgages is 300'000 euros, which represents a payment of 1'026 euros a month.
Government gives a helping hand for first-time house buyers