Getting the adequate housing report (informe de vivienda adecuada)

Key rules

• Issuer: The report comes from a regional housing department or town hall, depending on where the home is.
• Landlord consent: If you rent and the lease does not clearly allow more occupants, you need your landlord's written consent; get it before you apply.

Who issues the report

The regional housing department issues it, or a town hall it delegates to. Where no regional body issues it, the town hall does.

• Catalonia: the regional housing agency, or the town hall in some cases.
• Andalucía: the town hall of the municipality where the home is.
• Madrid: the town hall, with the regional government handling it in some cases.
• Valencia: the town hall or the regional housing office, depending on the municipality.
• Canaries: the town hall.

Which body issues it differs from one municipality to the next, so the town hall of your home is where you start.

What counts as adequate housing

The home must be habitable, large enough for the number of people, have basic services, and be legally held by you through ownership or a lease. The report states the home's size, the number of rooms and whether it is habitable. The office can also send someone for a technical inspection.

If you own the home

Apply the same way and show your ownership instead of a lease: a nota simple or the title deed in your name. You need no landlord consent and no rent receipts.

Timing and cost

Allow four weeks from your request to the report; a technical inspection adds time. The report costs a small administrative fee set by the issuing town hall or region, some places issue it free, and a technical inspection can raise the cost. There is no national form or modelo: you apply on the issuing office's own form. If the office refuses the report or does not answer, ask in writing for the reason and what is missing, fix it and apply again, because your family's application cannot be filed without it.

If the report is negative

• Fix the problem. If the report names defects, such as overcrowding or missing facilities, correct them and request a new inspection.
• Move. A larger home, or one that meets the standard, can get a new report.
• Challenge the report. If it is negative or refused, you can contest it with the body that issued it.

File your application only once the report is positive.

Documents you need

• Application form for the housing report, from the town hall or regional housing department that issues it.

• Your passport or foreigner card (NIE/TIE) as the sponsor.

• If you rent: the signed rental contract for the home where your family will live.

• Proof of ownership: a nota simple (a land registry extract) or the title deed, in the name of the owner; if you own the home, this replaces the lease.

• The municipal register certificate (empadronamiento) showing who lives at the home.

• If you rent: your landlord's ID, and the latest rent receipts or proof of payment.

• A recent utility bill, your work contract or payslips, and a statement of the number of rooms, for offices that ask for them.