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RENTING

Spain needs to build 1.2 million affordable rental homes in a decade

The current shortage of housing in some areas of Spain means that 761,000 affordable rental properties and 442,000 social housing units need to be built in the next 10 years to meet demand, a new study has warned.

Published: 25 October 2023 13:24 CEST
Spain needs to build 1.2 million affordable rental homes in a decade
Construction of more homes is needed to meet demand in Spain. Photo: CESAR MANSO / AFP

According to a new report by real estate developer Culmia in conjunction with social research and consulting firm Gad3, around 761,000 new well-priced rental properties will be needed over the next decade to meet demand in Spain, plus an additional 442,000 social housing units.

The report specifies that this will be needed to satisfy demand, relax current market prices, and reduce the amount that households currently allocate to rent, which is currently on average 40 percent of their income.

The investment required to undertake these new developments stands at €108 billion (approximately €142,000 per home), of which 76 percent would come from private investment and only 24 percent from the public sector.

By region, Catalonia, Madrid, Andalusia and Valencia are the ones that require the most affordable housing and are also among the most populated.

Catalonia is the region that will need the most housing to meet demand, with a total of 225,000 reasonably priced rental homes in the next ten years. This will require a public investment of €1.01 billion, according to the report, due to the fact that private investment there is higher. 

READ ALSO: Why there are half a million new homes in Spain that no one wants to buy

This is much less than what is needed in the region of Madrid, despite the fact that it will cost the capital region more. According to the report, the Madrid region needs 174,000 new affordable rental homes in the next decade, with a public investment that will reach €5.4 billion.

Andalusia is another region that requires more affordable rental housing. The 85,000 new units needed there will require an investment of €4.5 billion.

Valencia follows, also with 85,000 homes needed and an investment of €3.2 billion. Finally, the Canary Islands will need 46,000 homes with an investment of €2.4 billion.

Housing production in Spain has fallen by 86 percent compared to its highest rate in 2006. Around 80,000 homes are built per year and the national market is near the bottom of Europe in terms of public housing construction.

Of the total housing production, only 10 percent corresponds to protected housing and of that percentage, the majority (80 percent) comes solely from private investment.

READ ALSO: How Spain plans to address its huge lack of social housing

The report shows that if the same investment was given by the government, public and private collaboration would increase the production of public housing by 72 percent, going from 442,000 affordable homes to 761,000.

The creation of 150,000 new homes per year is expected in the most populated municipalities of the country, meaning that every year there will be a deficit of 20,000 affordable homes in certain areas. 

According to the report entitled ‘Access to Housing and Affordable Rental Needs’, those households with salaries between €1,000 and €2,000 per month are those that have the highest degree of vulnerability, with a disproportionate amount of their salary going to rent –  50 percent in some cases. It is this group that will be the main beneficiaries of these new affordable homes.

The lack of 1.2 million rental properties does seem high, and Culmia does have vested interests in such a gargantuan task as one of the main developers in social housing in the country, but similar studies such as that conducted by Atlas Real Estate Analytics in 2023 put the figure needed as even higher: 1.83 million units.

One of the main paradoxes is that Spain does have many empty properties, but they are not located in the provinces that need them.

For example, in the provinces of Ourense, Ferrol, and Ponferrada in Galicia and Ciudad Real in Castilla-La Mancha, in addition to their surroundings, there is actually a surplus of houses.

READ ALSO: What are Spain’s plans to charge owners of empty homes more tax?

A report by UVE Valoraciones, a society associated with the Bank of Spain, states that there are 433,000 empty houses in Spain, but there are 13 provinces in the country that have a shortage of properties.

“Lack of housing is not a national problem, it is a problem in certain areas,” says Germán Pérez Barrio, president of the appraiser who authored the UVE report.

READ ALSO – Renting in Spain: Why it’s become very hard to find a flat to share

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LEGAL HELP

Noisy local fiestas: What to do when your Spanish town hall is responsible

Town and city fiestas are commonplace in Spain and they’re part of what made many of us fall in love with the country in the first place, but sometimes the town hall can overstep and the noise pollution just gets too much to bear for neighbours.

Published: 22 May 2024 09:35 CEST
Noisy local fiestas: What to do when your Spanish town hall is responsible

It’s bad enough in Spain when you have to deal with noisy neighbours or loud bars and clubs, but what about when the culprit is your ayuntamiento (town hall) or city council?

If you want to know what your rights are on noise from construction, find out here, what to do about noisy neighbours here and about bars and clubs here. 

During these local fiestas (every city, town and village has at least one a year), councils set up concert and performance venues form of open-air stages or tents called casetas or carpas.

In these cases, there’s often no sound insulation and the noise carries much further as everything happens outside.

Even though these festivals may only go one for a week or two, they can often disturb residents who aren’t in attendance and are trying to sleep.

You could be someone who needs extra sleep like a doctor, nurse or firefighter, you may be ill or have small children, there are many reasons why you might not be able or want to join in. Even if you are in the minority, your rights should still be respected.

In fact, in places such as Barcelona, when the local Gràcia festival takes place, there’s so much noise created by neighbourhood organisers that some people even decide to leave their apartments for the week as they know they won’t be able to sleep.

This option is of course not open to everyone, and in truth, you shouldn’t have to leave your home temporarily because of a celebration that is supposed to bring joy to the local population.

So, what can you legally do and what are your rights?

Even city and town councils must continue to comply with municipal by-laws during local fiestas. The Spanish Civil Code guarantees that you should have respect in your own home.

Law 40/2015, of October 1st, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, which came into force in October 2016, establishes that “Public Administrations objectively serve the general interests and act in accordance with the principles of effectiveness, hierarchy, decentralisation and coordination, with full submission to the Constitution and the Law”. 

This means that even the authorities must uphold the law and serve their people. They have a public responsibility to manage and to do it to the best of their abilities.

The first thing to keep in mind is that you stand a much better chance of getting your council to listen if you find other people who are affected too, so it’s not just you complaining on your own.

Make sure to talk to your neighbours or others living on the same street to find out if they’re also affected by the noise and form a group of people who share your grievances.

In theory, councils and ayuntamientos are in charge of enforcing celebration schedules, making sure the volume of music isn’t too loud, controlling the capacity at venues and enforcing alcohol laws so that people are not drinking on the street (if it’s not allowed in that region).

READ ALSO – FACT CHECK: No, Spain’s Balearics haven’t banned tourists from drinking alcohol

According to Law 7/2002 on protection against noise pollution, these are the maximum sound levels allowed for leisure venues:

Nightclubs: 104 decibels

Venues with musical entertainment: 90 decibels

Game rooms: 85 decibels

Bars and restaurants: 80 decibels

Find out if the festival events and activities infringe on any of these rules and regulations above and if they do then you have a case to take to your town hall.

Technically, the festivals should take place at a local fairground or somewhere away from the main residential area, but we know that this is not always the case. The concerts and events often happen in the very streets and squares where people live.

Firstly, you need to contact your ayuntamiento or local council or explain the problem. It’s best if you put it in writing so there’s a record of what you’ve said.

Try to include as much evidence as possible as to how the festivals are breaking the rules and include testimonials from as many neighbours as you can.

Organisers may not listen to you the first time, but if you keep contacting them, they will be forced to listen and have to respond.

If the situation is the same every year and they still don’t change anything, then you and your neighbours should contact a lawyer to represent you and take the matter to court.

This has actually been done several times by different communities throughout the country and in many instances, the law has sided with the people instead of the authorities.

In 2017, the Superior Court of Justice of Navarra, sided with a community of owners in Mutilva Baja when they complained about noise coming from an outdoor tent which had been erected for the festivities of the local patron saint. They claimed it was noise pollution above the legal levels and said the council had done nothing to try and reduce it.  

In another case in Getafe, thanks to a neighbourhood protest led by a lawyer specialising in noise pollution called Ricardo Ayala, the carnival celebrations were moved to the fairgrounds on the outskirts of the city.

Again in 2022, in Castilla-La Mancha, the Supreme Justice Tribunal imposed a sentence on the the Puerto Lápice City Council due to damages derived from noise pollution from musical events held in the town square.

The celebrations were not forced to be stopped completely but the council did have to agree with a limitation on hours and noise levels specifically for the concerts held in tents outside. It did not affect any other part of the festival.

Therefore, it is possible to take legal action against your ayuntamiento if they are breaking the law, but there’s no guarantee it will be a straightforward process.

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