The rental aid of the State Housing Plan 2026-2030: requirements, amounts and rent limits

Royal Decree 326/2026, of 22 April, which regulates the State Housing Plan 2026-2030, includes a line of direct rental aid aimed at facilitating access to and maintenance of a rented dwelling or room for citizens with lower incomes. The regulation, contained in articles 115 to 123 of the rule, precisely establishes who can apply, how much can be received and what limits weigh on the contract rent and the household's income.

This line sits within the Plan's third major block, aimed at facilitating access to housing by reducing the effort rate for renters, and coexists with other measures in the same block, such as aid for the emancipation of young people or aid for victims of gender violence and people in housing emergencies. In its statement of reasons, the Government explains that financeable rents are capped so as not to subsidize high rents, except for increases justified by updated studies of the rental supply. The Plan is executed through agreements or transfer resolutions with the autonomous communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which are only formalized when there is agreement on the 40 % co-investment in the Plan, the guarantee of permanence of housing financed with state funds and the commitment to share data through a single comprehensive dashboard. The cooperation bodies are the Sectoral Conference on Housing and Urban Agenda, the Multilateral Commission on Housing and Land and the bilateral commissions.

This aid joins this autumn's housing regulatory package, which already included the RDL 29/2026 on seasonal rentals and evictions and the rental extension of RDL 28/2026, as well as the aid to rehabilitate empty housing for affordable rental under the Plan itself.

Who it is for

Individuals of legal age who meet, among others, these requirements may be beneficiaries:

• Holding - or being in a position to sign - a residential lease under the Urban Leases Act (LAU), or a use-assignment contract or a room lease. For rooms, the contract is not required to conform to the LAU. If the contract is not yet signed, it must be executed within a maximum of two months from notification of the award, which will be conditional on that signing.
• The dwelling or room must constitute the habitual and permanent residence throughout the award period. This is proven with a registration certificate, which must be provided at the time of application or, for a newly signed contract, within a maximum of two months from the decision granting the aid.
• The combined annual income of the persons habitually residing in the dwelling must not exceed five times the IPREM, with higher thresholds for general-category large families, single-parent families, persons with a disability of 33 % or more and victims of terrorism (5.5 times the IPREM) and for special-category large families or disability of 65 % or more (6 times). For a room lease, only the tenant's income is counted. The autonomous communities may additionally require minimum income in their calls.

The rent cap and its regional increases

The contract rent cannot exceed 1,000 euros per month for a dwelling or 600 euros for a room. Article 117, however, regulates an increase mechanism with two routes. The first requires justifying the increase with updated studies of the rental supply and reaching an agreement with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda within the monitoring commission of the fund-transfer agreement. The second allows the autonomous communities to raise the limit to 1,600 euros per month without that agreement, where the beneficiary is a large family, a single-parent family, or where a member of the household has a disability of 33 % or more. Regional calls may set minimum income requirements; that is not a general power to raise the maximum income thresholds.

Who is excluded

The rule closes the door to the aid where the applicant or any member of the household owns or holds usufruct over another dwelling in Spain. There are enumerated exceptions: an undivided share acquired through inheritance or intestate transfer on death; unavailability because of separation, divorce or another reason beyond the holder's control; and inaccessibility because of the disability of the holder or another household member. First or second degree kinship with the landlord also excludes, as do corporate links between tenant and landlord, subject to the exception for non-profit housing, consumer or combined housing-and-consumer cooperatives, including use-assignment cooperatives.

How much is received

The aid has a maximum amount of 250 euros per month for a dwelling lease and 150 euros for a room lease. Both amounts may be increased up to the limit of 40 % of the rent depending on the number of dependants or where a disability of 33 % or more applies. The specific amount within those margins is set in each call.

Duration, obligations and loss of the aid

The award lasts two years, extendable for another two by prior agreement of the autonomous community, provided the requirements continue to be met. During that period, the beneficiary must immediately report any change in the conditions that motivated the award, and the supervening loss of any condition will lead to a decision by the competent body limiting the period of enjoyment.

One relevant practical novelty: if the beneficiary moves within the same autonomous community, they do not lose the aid if they notify the granting body within a maximum of thirty days from signing the new contract, the new lease meets all requirements and it is executed without a time gap from the previous one. The amount is adjusted to the new rent, without exceeding the amount initially recognized.

Compatibility with other aid

The aid must be used mandatorily to pay the rent and is incompatible with any other aid, subsidies or financial assistance of the same nature - that is, intended for paying the rent of a dwelling or room - charged to any other public administration, including the Plan itself. The exception is aid directed at victims of gender violence, sexual violence or trafficking and exploitation of human beings, single-parent families, persons subject to eviction from their habitual residence, persons in shanty housing, substandard housing or housing emergencies, homeless persons and other especially vulnerable persons.

How to apply and how it is paid

Management corresponds to the autonomous communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which will issue public calls for the award. The royal decree allows them to run procedures open on a continuous and permanent basis, or a single call for the entire duration of the Plan, and even to grant the subsidy directly in the cases of article 22.2 of the General Subsidies Act. The specific applications, deadlines and forms will therefore depend on each community's call, which is where the opening of each program should be checked.

Payment is periodic and is made by the autonomous community, which may pay the aid directly to the landlord as a discount on the rent, on the tenant's behalf. In addition, article 123 provides for collaborating landlord entities: where a collaborating entity also acts as landlord of the dwellings, the call may agree that the entity directly manages receipt of the aid for its application to the rent payment through the corresponding discount.

Practical keys for tenants and landlords

For the tenant, the essentials before applying are verifying that their autonomous community has opened a call, gathering the registration certificate and the contract, checking that no household member owns another dwelling (apart from the exceptions provided) and that there is no kinship with the landlord. It is advisable to simulate income against the current IPREM and to check whether the regional call has raised the rent or income limits. For the landlord, the design of the rule offers the possibility of payment on the tenant's behalf if the granting body so decides; this is not a general guarantee of collection and does not necessarily cover the entire rent. Each application requires checking the applicable regional call and distinguishing a state funding line from an actual open application window. The state decree does not establish that a particular call is open or that an application will be granted. Documents and dates should be checked with the managing body, without promising payment before an award decision.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if the contract is not yet signed when I am granted the aid? The award is conditional on the contract being signed within a maximum of two months from notification. If it is not signed within that period, the aid is never consolidated.

If I rent a room, is the income of the whole dwelling counted? No. In a room lease only the tenant's annual income is taken into account, not that of the other persons residing in the dwelling.

I have inherited a share of a dwelling. Does that exclude me from the aid? Ownership of another dwelling excludes, but the rule expressly excepts an undivided share acquired through inheritance or intestate transfer on death, as well as cases of unavailability due to separation or divorce and inaccessibility due to disability.

Can I receive this aid and another rental aid from my autonomous community? In principle no: it is incompatible with any other aid intended for rent payment charged to any administration. Only aid directed at especially vulnerable groups is spared, such as victims of gender violence, evicted persons or homeless persons.

Who receives the aid, the tenant or the landlord? Both options are provided for. The general rule is periodic payment to the beneficiary, but the autonomous community may pay it directly to the landlord as a rent discount, and collaborating landlord entities may directly manage its receipt.