Only 2.5% of Spanish housing stock is social real estate

Only 2.5% of Spanish housing stock is social real estate

In Spain, the share of social housing is only 2.5%. This is noticeably lower than the European average of 9.3% and much lower than the indicators of the most developed countries.

The Department «Housing and the Future» (Vivienda y Futuro), created with the cooperation of the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the Association of Promoters of the Construction Sector (APCE), presented its second report on this occasion: «Cooperation between the public and private sectors in real estate market in Catalonia».

The document focuses on the analysis of the problems of the social housing sector in Spain and, especially, in Catalonia. The report also compares Spain with other European countries and examines the possibilities of cooperation between the state and private business in solving these problems.

Following the data presented in the report, the cost of renting residential real estate in Catalonia continues to grow for several years in a row.

According to the Catalan Department of Land Management (INCASÒL), the current increase in rental rates began in 2015, and the cumulative increase in value was, at the moment, 33%. The annual growth rate has almost reached 10%, although there is a clear slowdown.

Both organizations point out that usually in European countries this issue would be solved with the help of preferential rent for social housing. But as mentioned earlier, the problem is that currently in Spain only 2.5% of the housing stock can be classified as social real estate.

In the European Union, the average share of such real estate in the housing stock is 9.3%, and in the most developed countries this percentage reaches 20 points. The latter category of countries includes Denmark and the United Kingdom.

A large segment of social housing available for rent requires very significant investments, which are possible only with the cooperation of the public and private sectors of the economy.

This is the approach chosen in Catalonia. Thus, 78.8% of permits for the construction of subsidized real estate in the region in 2020 were issued by private developers.

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