How to sign up on the protected housing applicant register

Calls for applications (convocatorias) for protected housing do not last months: they last days or a few weeks. When an interesting development is published, there is no longer time to gather papers, request certificates and wait for your registration to be approved. If you were not registered beforehand, you do not take part.

So the right order is the opposite of what almost everyone does: register first, search afterwards. Registration is free, commits you to nothing and does not expire tomorrow. Not registering is the only sure way to miss every call.

• DNI or NIE for everyone in the household.
• Registration certificate from the town hall (certificado de empadronamiento), often showing how long you have been registered: many regions require a minimum period of registration as a resident in the town or region.
• Last income tax return (declaración de la renta) for each member with income, or a tax data certificate (certificado de imputaciones) if you do not file one.
• Employment history (vida laboral) and recent payslips, depending on the region.
• Family book (libro de familia) or an equivalent document when there are children.
• Large family certificate, disability certificate, separation or divorce ruling, or proof of gender-based violence, where they apply: they give access to reserved quotas and to points in the scale.

Keep everything scanned in a single folder. On the requirements page there is a checklist where you can tick off what you already have, and it stays saved in your browser.

Many calls reserve a percentage of the homes for specific quotas (cupos): young people, older people, large families, single-parent families, people with disabilities, victims of gender-based violence or terrorism, and sometimes adapted homes. Within a quota you compete against far fewer people than in the general pool.

If you belong to one, prove it when you register and in each application. It is not applied automatically because you have the certificate at home: you have to declare it and hand it in on time.

Registration is valid for a limited time, 2 to 4 years depending on the region, and it lapses if you do not renew it or do not report relevant changes: moving house, a change in income, a birth, a separation. It is one of the most common reasons people miss a draw (sorteo) without realising: you still met the requirements, but your registration was no longer active.

Set the reminder yourself, because the administration does not always warn you. In Don't lose your time on the register we work out the expiry date with your region's rules and alert you 30 days before, for free.

These are the official portals where you register. All of them were opened and checked by hand; if one stops working, write to us and we will fix it.