Alex Trelinski
FINESTRAT on the Costa Blanca has been named as the most expensive municipality in Alicante province for rental properties based on monthly income
A study by property portal Idealista says that 71% of average household income has to be spent on getting a rental home there.
It makes Finestrat the fifth-most expensive property rental area in using the income measure- beaten only by Santa Eulalia in the Balearic Islands, and Marbella, Estepona and Behavis in Andalucia.
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Not far behind Finestrat is its neighbour Benidorm where families need to put aside around 67% of their income to meet the monthly rent payments.
In contrast, travelling inland to Alcoy will bring you Alicante province’s lowest rents which just require 19% of monthly salaries.
The European Union limit is 33% of monthly income before rents are classified as ‘excessive’.
Idealista’s Francisco Iñareta said: “The lack of rental housing is behind the increase in prices as families have to allocate increasing amounts of their income to be able to get a home”.
Iñareta added that rents are ‘well above what is recommended by experts’.
“We need to find new ways to increase housing market supply both for sale and for rent which will help to normalise matters”.
The average rent for Alicante province as a percentage of income is around 37%- a 2% hike on last year.
The area is constantly breaking rental price records and Idealista says October’s average price exceeded €10.80 per m2- 0.7% more than in September this year and an annual rise of nearly 11%.
In Finestrat, rents are coming in at an average of €14.60 per m2 in October, meaning that an 80m2 apartment would cost €1,168 per month.
