VPO: The Andalusian Ministry of Development and Housing keeps track of the officially protected homes intended as tourist apartments.

VPO (SUBSIDISED HOUSING) INTENDED AS TOURIST APARTMENTS

Recently, we reported a news and linked it through our RRSS. The Andalusian Ministry of Development and Housing initiated 13 disciplinary proceedings against owners of subsidised housing for their use for tourism.

In recent years, the development of tourist apartments has grown exponentially. The City Councils and the communities most affected by this phenomenon have reacted to limit this business activity. But, until now, the entire legal tangle has facilitated the uncontrolled growth of the market still unaffected by the limitations imposed so far.

VPO housing in Andalusia: their requirements, advantages and disadvantages.

With this article, we want to focus on VPO homes and the possibility or not of renting them as homes for tourism purposes.

What is VPO Housing?

First, we are going to define VPO Housing and the requirements, advantages and difficulties of owning such a home.

Officially Protected Homes qualify as such when the Autonomous Community, in which they are located, verifies that they meet a series of characteristics such as household size, income threshold and a maximum price.

The eligibility for a subsidised Home consists in several requirements. Here are some of them:

People must

• NOT have been granted previously protected housing in Spain.
• not OWN a subsidised property.
• be registered in a public register of applicants.
• have a minimum family income.
• not have obtained financial aid from state or autonomous housing schemes in the last ten years.

Advantages of acquiring a VPO home:

-this type of housing has a limited purchase price and

-it is almost always subsidised by the Public Administration.

The difficulty in acquiring a VPO home is that you must meet a series of requirements, since such housing is intended for habitual and permanent residence, without the possibility of selling it freely.

If you want to sell your VPO home, 10 years must have elapsed since its purchase. However, exceptions are provided for in Article 26 of the Protected Homes regulation, i.e. for work reasons, for the increase in the members of the family unit, etc…

In Andalusia it is possible to rent your VPO home for tourism purposes by rooms if you live in it permanently

After this brief definition of what is Official Protection Housing, in the Pérez Parras Economists & Lawyers Firm in Málaga and Nerja, experts in the Taxation and Legality of the exploitation of housing for tourism purposes, we will resolve the doubts raised in the following question which generated this Post:

Can I use my subsidised home for tourist purposes?

The answer would be NO, but let’s clarify the reason for this response.

As explained above, VPO homes cannot be used as tourist apartments.  Their public protection policy indicates that they should be allocated as habitual and permanent homes.

However, it is possible to rent a single room. Only as long as the main use of the home remains the owner’s primary residence.

Still, what could happen if I am allocating my VPO home for tourism purposes?

In previous articles, we specified the requirements to register your tourist apartment. One of them is to enter it in the Tourist Housing Registry managed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

At any rate, an officially protected is automatically documented in the Inventory of Protected Housing in Andalusia. The Ministry of Development and Housing verifies the data collected. Disciplinary proceedings can follow, ranging between 3,000 and 30,000 Euros.

Therefore, our recommendation is that, if you find yourself in this situation, consult our office of Economists & Lawyers in Malaga and Nerja, professionals and experts in Taxation and Legality of Tourist Apartments.