At a time when the access to housing has become one of the main social problems in Spain, with rental prices at historic highs and a scarce public offerthe economist Santiago Niño Becerra has analyzed in an exclusive interview for NewsWork the structural causes of the phenomenon and the possible ways to reverse it.
Niño Becerra considers that the structural problem of housing in Spain lies in the shortage of supply in the face of growing demand, since “supply is much less than demand.” The professor of Economics warns that the country “has done a lot officially protected housing“, but “not oriented towards rental, but rather towards sale, with very low protection periods.” As he explains, this strategy caused that, once the protection ended, the homes were incorporated into the free market, which contributed to increasing real estate speculation.
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New cities as the only structural solution
The economist defends that the only “logical” and long-term way to solve the housing problem in Spain would be to build new planned cities from scratch. It would not be about building more buildings in already saturated areas, but rather developing complete urban centers, with infrastructure, mobility and services designed in a comprehensive manner.
As an example, he cited the British model. As he explains, in the United Kingdom “they have already built a new city, cities of 25,000 or 30,000 inhabitants in empty spaces, completely planned from scratch, with new mobility systems.”
Expropriate the use of empty homes
Niño Becerra also commented on a proposal launched by former minister Irene Montero, consisting of expropriating the use of empty homes while maintaining private property. “A person has an empty home, who does not use it, nor does he want to rent or sell it; perfect. The property remains his, but the State expropriates its use,” he describes. “The rent will be for you, because the home is yours, but the rent will be set by the State,” he adds.
The professor points out that a measure of this type could help alleviate the housing deficit, although he acknowledges that he does not know “to what extent that is legally feasible.” Niño Becerra takes the opportunity to remember that “in Spain there are between 1.2 and 3 million empty homes, depending on how you count them.”
Asked about the existence of real estate speculationresponds emphatically: “Obviously, please.” He explains that in cities like Barcelona “there are castings for tenants”, where “a person wants to rent an apartment and they do a casting to see if they comply or not” and they select the tenants according to their economic profile. Furthermore, as indicated, some people go so far as to offer more money in order to secure an apartment or advance positions on the lists of interested parties.
Criticizes the young rental bonus
In relation to the young rental voucherNiño Becerra considers that “it is a mistake” because, in his opinion, it does not address the origin of the problem. For the economist, the measure is insufficient and poorly focused, and he argues that the priority should be building public and affordable housing, instead of allocating funds to temporary aid.
As he explains, the bonus is “covering a hole” and not a structural solution, since it is limited to dedicating “a few million” that allow the Government to “appear in the newspapers and take a photo,” but without solving the underlying cause of the housing crisis.
The economist’s criticism comes while the Executive has recently announced new initiatives to improve access to housing, including the commitment to mobilize 81,000 affordable rental homes and a plan with 12 measures to improve access to housingwith special focus on young people.
A theory about home squatting
Finally, the economist also addresses the issue of housing squatting, on which he offered a “personal theory” about its persistence. As he explains, the phenomenon is partially tolerated because the State lacks resources and housing alternatives for those who cannot access a home: “The occupation, in quotes, is allowed because there is an unsolvable housing problem,” he says.
Niño Becerra recalls that “in Spain it has been estimated that there are between 94,000 and 97,000 squatted homes” and that evicting these people, rehabilitating the properties and reintroducing them to the market would entail a high cost. He also adds that many of the occupants rely on article 47 of the Constitution, which recognizes the right to decent housing, which makes an immediate solution difficult.