He rent It does not give up and its price continues to increase month by month. According to the latest situation report published by the real estate portal Fotocasa, leases rose 10.2% in February compared to the same month of the previous year, which is the largest increase in the last 29 months according to Fotocasa’s records. Compared to the previous month, prices also increased by 2%, reaching the 11.43 euros per square meter, also the highest record recorded by Fotocasa. Eight autonomous communities reached maximum rental prices last month, Madrid (15.90 euros per square meter), Catalonia (15.50), the Balearic Islands (15.03), the Basque Country (14.11), the Canary Islands (11, 65), Andalusia (9.50) and Galicia (8.17) and Castilla y León (8.03). As for the cities, Barcelona, with more than 20 euros per square meter, is still the most expensive city in Spain to rent And it is one of those cities in which, as the spokesman pisos.com, Ferran Font, warns, renting a flat is almost a chimera even with a salary well above the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI). “There are people who, even having a salary of close to 2,000 euros, cannot afford to rent a flat on their own that is not a tiny studio, having to resort to sharing”according to the Font alert, which warns that “accessibility to the rental market continues to be compromised due to the growing economic effort involved in being a tenant in certain cities.”
Pisos.com has also confirmed increases in rental prices in the second month of the year. Not as pronounced as those of Fotocasa (3.8%, until reaching the average price at 10.49 euros per square meter), but they do confirm the upward trend of a market that continues to suffer from a significant lack of supply, more acute in the cities and which puts more pressure on prices, after last year was reduced by approximately 30%, according to Fotocasa. “For this market to find its lost balance again and for prices to stop putting our pockets in trouble, it is essential to emphasize supply,” he explains. The manager is in favor of seeking solutions that expand the rental housing stock, indicating that the alternatives go through “develop new developments designed for rental, reconvert properties that today have other uses or encourage owners with a stable legal framework or some type of bonus.”
María Matos, head of Studies and spokesperson for pisos.com, also considers that rentals are experiencing a “critical” moment due to the lack of supply and adds a nuance. According to Matos, the still more pronounced shortage of social housing puts even more pressure on the prices of free housing, which is closing the market to many low-income families.
Yesterday, Monday, the president of the Association of Homeowners for Rent (Asval), Joan Clos. In an interview on Onda Cero, Clos, in line with what was stated with Font, claimed build affordable housing, especially in areas where it is most expensive, and not influence the price regulation proposed by the Housing Law that has been processed for more than a year in the PSOE and Podemos Congress. “He [[LINK:INTERNO|||Article|||6409abd86acfb0e47669f7be|||tope al alquiler de la vivienda [que propone la Ley] ]]is not progressive, because it decreases the supply and therefore makes rental prices more expensive”, explained Clos, who was disappointed with the way in which the Government is addressing the housing problem in Spain. The former socialist minister stressed that , of the 2.8 million homes for rent in Spain, 97% belong to small owners, and warns that a limit to the increase in the rental price “would scare away these investors”, who would choose to sell their properties .