Accessing a home in Spain is increasingly considered a privilege for a few because the price of housing continues to reach records in our country. And it no longer only refers to the purchase of properties, but also to rentals, where the market is increasingly tense as well.
Being able to rent an apartment in Spain is something that is becoming difficult due mainly to the rise in prices and fear or mistrust, since the owners themselves now fear that a tenant could declare themselves vulnerable and therefore not pay their fees. This phenomenon is what the economist Gonzalo Bernardos has analyzed, which is not the first time he has spoken about vulnerable tenants, indicating that in Catalonia, for example, an eviction can last up to 23 months, a judicial process that takes a long time with non-payments involved. This, without a doubt, conditions what the owners decide.
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The owners are aware that, if the tenant is in a vulnerable situation, the process to recover the home in case of non-payment can take a long time. “The owners know that if someone is vulnerable, it will take them a long time to get them out of the apartment if they don’t pay,” he explains. For this reason, many landlords carefully select candidates before renting, discarding profiles that may raise doubts and prioritizing payment security above any other aspect.
Increasingly tougher economic requirements
This situation is reflected in increasingly stricter rental access conditions. In cities like Madrid or Barcelona, many owners already require a minimum income of between 2,000 and 2,500 euros per month. A barrier that is not only related to the high price of rents, but also to the landlords’ attempt to protect themselves against possible legal problems.
Only vulnerable people will have access to the rental
But the big question is who falls into the category of vulnerable. According to Bernardos, “those who earn around 1,600 euros or allocate more than 30% of their income to housing and supplies are considered vulnerable.” This causes a large part of the population to be automatically excluded from the rental market.
The consequences of this phenomenon go further. The supply of available homes is reducing, prices continue to increase and accessing a rental is becoming more and more complicated. Thus, the market is divided between those who have family help or sufficient savings to make the leap to purchasing and those who are trapped in increasingly limited access to housing.
In this scenario, many people between 30 and 40 years old begin to reconsider their plans. When the difference between paying rent or a mortgage is increasingly smaller, purchasing begins to be perceived as a more attractive alternative.