Less than one in four of the 18.6 million households of Spain rent home, which reflects strict homeownership policies. Renters are young, they have lower incomes and immigrants are more likely. The rental market consists mainly of non-professional landlords, but recently the development and management of foreign companies has begun. Traditionally, public policies were designed to encourage ownership of homes and struggled to provide adequate rental housing, in particular public housing. doha apartments for sale
Overview of rental homes and apartment rental
Spain has one of the lowest rent rates in Europe, with just 23% of households renting their homes. As shown in Figure 1, this was not always the case. The proportion of owners and tenants was similar in 1950. In the 1960s, however, higher incomes and homeownership subsidies led to higher homeownership rates and peaked by 82 percent in 2001. The rental market has grown steadily in the last 20 years for two reasons: 1) employment uncertainty and low wages have placed home prices beyond reach of younger people; and 2) the banks are becoming more prudent towards mortgages than in the past.
Rental prices in larger provinces are higher (a geographical unit similar to metro areas in the U.S.). In Barcelona and Madrid, the two main metropolitan regions, the renters percentage is 26 percent and 24 percent respectively. This figure is less than 15 percent in smaller urban areas.
There are also several regional changes in rentals per square meter. The average monthly lease in 2018 was €675 (8.1 € per m2) per month for an average unit of approximately 96 m2 (1,033 square feet). The prices of Barcelona and Madrid are higher and the housing is smaller. For average rent of 90 square meters (969 square feet) in Barcelona, the monthly rent is €930 (€12.5 per square meter). In these towns, the issue of affordability of housing is more severe, while salaries and incomes are higher.
Most houses are located in multifamily buildings (Figure 2). In buildings with two or more homes, the proportion of housing is higher than 25 percent, while 88 percent of single family structures are owned. Roughly half of the rented houses had been constructed before 1980, close to the age of the occupied stock.
Rental houses are usually much smaller than homeowners (Figure 3), with most units having an area of less than 45 square metres. Approximately 85% of homeowners have more than 105 square meters.
While most households own their own homes, renting among single-parent and single-parent homes is relatively more common. Younger people are also more likely to rent their homes with almost 70% of people aged 16-29.
Figure 4 shows the tenure structure dependent on household head nationality. Rent increased from 16% in 2007 to 20% in 2018 among Spanish-headed households. The percentage of households headed by people of other EU countries also rose, albeit slightly more moderately, from 54% to almost 60%. Renting is highest for non-EU citizens' households.
Private sector companies play a limited role in rental housing development and management
Rental housing has historically been owned by individuals, and only recently more professional landowners, including international capital companies, have entered the market similarly to investment trusts (REITs). Recent fiscal incentives (including high corporate tax and transaction tax credits) coincided with the arrival of new foreign operators. In 2018, private companies dedicated to rental housing represented about 10% of the national rental market. These companies are more widely active in major cities, making up 25 percent of Barcelona's rental housing. Some of these new residential units is introduced to the short-term rental market (e.g. Airbnb rentals), so that the quantity of long-term housing has not increased.