The increase in the income threshold of the mortgage code will cover 100,000 more homes

It rises to 38,000 euros per year

The increase in the income threshold to benefit from the measures of the Code of Good Practices for mortgage debtors up to 38,000 euros per year will expand coverage to an additional 100,000 households to those already covered until now, as indicated by the first vice president and Minister of Economy , Commerce and Business, Nadia Calviño.

In a press conference held after a meeting with the banking associations AEB, CECA and Unacc, he emphasized that the Government's objective with this measure is to have "a safety net for people who need it."

The vice president stressed that there is no perceived risk of a macroeconomic or financial stability nature derived from the mortgage sector, but she recalled that households with incomes of up to 38,000 euros "are the ones that are being most affected by the rise in interest rates." .

Until the month of September, as reported by the Bank of Spain at the meeting, the applications received from financial entities are around 55,000. To this number we should also add the alternative relief measures offered by the banks themselves and for which no data has been given.

In this sense, Calviño recalled that the "strength" of the economy, the employment data and the rise in real wages "are allowing us to address and confront with notable strength this environment of notable rise in interest rates that already seems to have slowed down." ".

During a subsequent intervention, the general director of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), María Abascal, stated that the sector does not consider it necessary to increase the threshold, although she indicated that financial entities will be "up to par" with what what the Government asks of them.

In any case, the person responsible for the employers' association considers that if more households have not taken advantage of the measures, it is because the default rate is lower than when the Code was designed and because of the good progress of the economy. Likewise, she has asked "that it not be opened every now and then" to reformulate it.

NO EARLY AMORTIZATION OR MORTGAGE EXCHANGE COMMISSIONS

Likewise, the suspension of early repayment fees for variable-rate loans and conversion to a fixed rate will be extended throughout 2024. As a novelty, the free rate is extended to also cover conversions from variable rate mortgages to mixed rate mortgages.

Once this free period ends, the Government plans to cap the commission for changing a variable mortgage to a mixed or fixed mortgage at 0.05%.

Regarding the new measures of financial inclusion and accessibility to financial services, the Government has announced that it will eliminate commissions for withdrawing cash at the counter for those over 65 years of age and disabled people. This measure will be adopted by law before the end of the year, as reported by the first vice president.

Calviño has assured that the majority of banking entities have already voluntarily withdrawn commissions for cash withdrawals at the window by those over 65 years of age, although there were still some that maintained it.

On the other hand, Calviño has positively valued the alternative access measures to banking services, which have reached more than 200 municipalities and cover 200,000 citizens. This has caused access points to be brought to 93% of the identified municipalities that did not have any type of physical provision of financial services.

CALVIÑO ASKS TO REMUNERATE DEPOSITS MORE

The vice president has also "confirmed" that progress has been made in the remuneration of deposits, although at the meeting the banks were urged "to close the 'gap' that exists in Spain with respect to the rest of Europe."

During the meeting, the Ministry informed the employers that the Government has resumed the processing of the project to create the Financial Client Defense Authority with the aim of it being operational in 2024.

AVOID EPISODES LIKE REDSYS FAILURES

Calviño has reiterated that it is a "priority project" for the Government, which will act "as a culmination" to complete the system of protection and inclusion of financial clients. As reported, its processing has been given a priority and urgent nature so that it can be established as soon as possible.

The incidents that occurred in recent weeks at Redsys have also been addressed. It has been agreed to implement "different measures to reinforce the security and confidence of users and prevent similar episodes from being repeated."