The Generalitat de Catalunya will in future cover half the price of a first home for people over 40. President Salvador Illa announced the new purchase scheme on 29 September 2026 in the Parliament in Barcelona For the initial phase, the government is providing around 100 million euros The scheme is aimed at households with stable incomes that are insufficient to secure full financing and which have so far been unable to buy because of the high deposit required.
According to Illa, this is a form of public participation in home purchases not previously used in Spain. The Generalitat will set out the specific arrangements—including ownership shares, buyback or exercise rights, and income and property-value limits—in implementing regulations over the coming weeks. What is clear is that the scheme will support first-time purchases; public-sector participation is intended to make it easier to obtain a mortgage without fully replacing private funds.
Alongside this, the government wants to evictions do more to prevent evictions. To this end, it is setting up a fund worth 25 million euros to purchase homes from households in “extreme vulnerability” and help them remain in their homes. Illa placed the measures within a housing agenda that he described as central to prosperity and social stability in Catalonia .
The so-called Emancipación loans for young adults will also be expanded. In his policy speech, Illa gave only a broad outline of the details on age limits, amounts and terms; these are to be published alongside the regulations for the new scheme. The announcements come during the Parliament of Catalonia’s annual Debate on General Policy (DPG), at which the government sets out its direction and priorities.
Responses and interests differ. Social organisations welcome the approach, saying it could reduce barriers to the market in the short term and protect households at particular risk. The housing sector has raised concerns about legal and administrative complexity, as well as the scheme’s impact: how many transactions can it actually generate, and what effect will it have on prices? Opposition voices are also calling for transparency over selection criteria and a clear cap on purchase prices to prevent windfall gains.
The Generalitat has said it will publish allocation rules, income thresholds, regional priorities and oversight mechanisms shortly. Until these rules are presented, it remains unclear how the public stake will be treated in the accounts and whether the public sector will hold a minority or a half share in the property. The political framework is clear: Catalonia is combining direct participation in purchases, a preventive acquisition fund and expanded youth loans to improve access to housing.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).