Bizigune Programme (Basque Country, 2013-present)
- The Bizigune Programme was launched by the Basque government in Spain in 2013 to detect empty homes and help their landlords rent them through a social housing programme.
- It relies on landlords reaching out to the regional government to say they have an empty home.
- Definition of "empty home" in this programme:
- The home is not part of the social or otherwise regulated housing stock.
- It's empty, meaning it hasn't been lived in for the last three months.
- It's not rented nor has it any limitations that prevent it from being rented.
- Summary from their site through Google Translate:
- Bizigune aims to attract unoccupied apartments for their entry into the market through protected rental.
- Its purpose is to give uninhabited housing a social use, facilitating access to decent housing at affordable prices. It is intended for people whose economic resources are not sufficient to access the free market.
- The owner of an empty house makes it available to ALOKABIDE (Public Company of the Basque Government, https://www.alokabide.euskadi.eus) through a usufruct contract in exchange for a series of established guarantees. In turn, ALOKABIDE will award this home to an applicant registered with the Basque Housing Service ETXEBIDE (https://www.etxebide.euskadi.eus) who will pay ALOKABIDE a rent proportional to their income.
- Keywords: Basque Country, Euskadi, Spain, unused, vacant, dwelling