Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S housing problem has been featured in the latest OECD Economic Survey on the country and especially problems for buyers aged under 30.
There’s been a long-standing issue of young Spaniards finding it difficult to buy let alone rent their first property, as prices rocket, especially in city and tourist areas.
The OECD said: “A difficult transition from education to the labour market, coupled with a lack of affordable housing, often means a difficult transition to independent life for young Spaniards.”
Spain has one of the worst records of people aged 30 and under living independently and the average age of younger citizens leaving the family home is the third highest in Europe.
Renting is not an option for many young Spaniards due to costs while there’s a low supply of social housing.
The OECD has published some stark figures including average rents rising by 40% over the last decade compared to just 10% in salaries.
Just 1% of Spain’s housing stock is ‘social’ compared to 7% in other OECD nations and many young people pool resources to jointly rent accommodation.
Over the recently approve Housing Law, the OECD says: “The government has approved a Law on the Right to Housing which seeks to address the lack of affordable housing in Spain through a series of regulations and tax measures aimed at increasing the supply of dwellings and limit price increases.”
The OECD suggests that the law’s plan to force developers to ‘allocate 40% of new residential construction to social housing- half of it for social rental units’, could generate benefits for lower-income households, but only if carefully monitored to ‘ensure that such inclusionary zoning does not reduce incentives to start new projects or drive up market prices’.
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