In today’s post, Tecnotramit wants to analyse Spanish citizens’ main problem when accessing the property market: a lack of supply and the consequent rise in purchase and rental home prices. According to our forecasts, Spain will need 2.5 million new homes for the increase of 4 million inhabitants over the next 30 years, according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE).
‘These figures will continue to worsen due to the downward trend in the ratio of persons per property. The situation is worrying because the solutions that have been provided are not good. Time has proven us right and nowadays almost half of the world’s population lives in large cities. And the prospect is that this percentage will rise to 70% by 2050,’ says Vicenç Hernández Reche, economist and Tecnotramit’s CEO.
Regarding how to address affordable housing challenges, Hernández Reche notes that ‘this is a widespread problem in the country’s major metropolitan areas.’‘This process has already taken place in Barcelona, generating a higher demand which, alongside less supply due to geographical limitations and erroneous administrative policies, has led to a worrying increase in prices. This problem is mitigated in Madrid by the possibility of growing without any significant geographical limits and public-private policies aimed at increasing supply to balance the growth in demand,’ analyses our expert.
Tecnotramit’s CEO also argues that public-private partnerships are not good in themselves, as it depends on how they are managed. ‘The results of the “Plan Madrid Vive” (Madrid Lives Plan) and the “Habitatge Metròpolis Barcelona, HMB” (Barcelona Metropolis Housing) have been very uneven. The seriousness of the situation must be highlighted, as the quality of life in cities determines the well-being of a country. The increase in the number of people living in substandard housing and environmental degradation are two of the most obvious consequences of this problem,’ claims Hernández Reche.
Spanish property regulation, unfinished business
We distinguish three basic differences at Tecnotramit between the Spanish regulation of housing market access policies in comparison to other countries: the scarce budget allocated to housing, the lack of publicly promoted rental housing, and the partisan gamification of housing policies.
‘These are the main differences that generate a strong divergence of results between Spain and other civilised countries. The non-regulation of the profession, the permissiveness of squatting, and the limitation of the right to property are also elements with which the administration plays an identitarian and ideological game behind the entire sector’s back,’ regrets Vicenç Hernández Reche.