- Title: Housing crisis in Spain's cities drives rise in homelessness as tourism booms
- Date: 11th July 2024
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (FILE-JUNE 10, 2024) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS PROFANITY*** VARIOUS OF PABLO CAMPO, RAILWAY WORKER WHO IS BEING PRICED OUT OF HIS HOME, ARRIVING AT HIS HOME (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RAILWAY WORKER, PABLO CAMPOS, SAYING: “It's (tourist apartment rentals) a speculative issue of taking housing previously used for living and repurposing it to generate profit and benefit for a few unknown individuals. Meanwhile, all the residents who previously lived in the neighbourhood are being displaced, as they can no longer afford to find housing in the area due to the current prices and situation.” VARIOUS OF PENSIONER CARMEN CAJAMARCA, 67, ARRIVING AT HER HOUSE IN LAVAPIES NEIGHBOURHOOD (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PENSIONER CARMEN CAJAMARCA WHO HAS BEEN NOTIFIED TO LEAVE HER FLAT, 67, SAYING: "People have been thrown out onto the streets, evicting those who have lived there for years. The news reports that around 5 million tourists arrive, so they want the apartments for tourists. But what about the local residents who have always lived there and paid the rent? Where do we stand? Why do they want to do this to us? We are human beings, not animals, and even though they have more money than us, they should have some consideration.” MADRID, SPAIN (FILE-APRIL 26, 2024) (REUTERS) MAIN FACADE OF MADRID STOCK MARKET VARIOUS OF THE PRESIDENT OF TECHO, BLANCA HERNANDEZ, RINGING BELL AS THE COMPANY IS LAUNCHED IN THE STOCK MARKET PEOPLE GATHERED INSIDE MADRID STOCK MARKET MAIN HALL SOUNDBITE (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF TECHO SOCIAL FUND, BLANCA HERNANDEZ, SAYING: “With the initial public offering, our goal is to continue growing, enabling us to purchase more apartments to accommodate more homeless individuals. It's an impact investment that balances economic profitability with social returns, but the focus is primarily on social profitability. The aim is to help end homelessness and provide housing to social organizations that assist these individuals in their integration into society.” MADRID STOCK MARKET HALL WITH TECHO LOGO ON SCREENS (SOUNDBITE) (SPANISH) FOUNDER OF TRANSCENDENT CONSULTANTS, MARIA HERRERO, 49, SAYING: “If we purchase the property that no one else will rent to him and make it available on the market for an NGO to lease, we are generating a return through the rental while also helping an individual like Hassan (first participant to get a home) secure shelter, employment, and a dignified life.” MADRID, SPAIN (FILE-MAY 6, 2024) (REUTERS) MAIN FACADE OF MUNDO JUSTO NGO, MEMBER OF THE TECHO SOCIAL INVESTMENT FUND PROGRAM PEOPLE ENTERING INTO MUNDO JUSTO NGO FACILITIES PEOPLE GATHERING AT HALL OF MUNDO JUSTO NGO (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR OF ASSISTANCE PROGAM AT MUNDO JUSTO NGO, JAVIER GARCIA, SAYING: "The solution to homelessness is housing. Undoubtedly, it seems very logical and obvious, but what I am referring to is that the solution is not shelters or overcrowded centres. If we truly want to alleviate homelessness, we need to talk about housing.” VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANT OF TECHO HOME ACCESS PROGRAM VIA MUNDO JUSTO CHARITY JOSE MANUEL GUENDIANO, RECEIVING SET OF KEYS FOR NEW HOME. KEYS ON CORK BOARD (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANT OF TECHO HOME ACCESS PROGRAM VIA MUNDO JUSTO CHARITY, JOSE MANUAL GUENDIANO, SAYING: “I feel like I've won the lottery. Right now, a set of keys (to a house) is worth more than a lottery jackpot.”
- Embargoed: 25th July 2024 06:58
- Keywords: AirBnB Apartments Carity Homeless Housing Lavapies Madrid Spain Tourism Touristic
- Location: Madrid, SPAIN
- City: Madrid, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Europe,Living/Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA003748309072024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS NOTE: PROFANITY ON SHOT 32
EDITORS NOTE: REFILE INCLUDES MORE INFORMATION ON PABLO CAMPOS WHO IS BEING PRICED OUT OF HIS FLAT
Francisco Carrillo sobbed with relief as he lay on the bed in his new apartment in Madrid provided by a charity after three years of sleeping rough in the backroom of a theatre.
The 62-year-old pensioner found he couldn't afford rental prices in the capital when he moved from Jaen in southern Spain to seek treatment for throat cancer.
"Tonight, I'm going to sleep like a baby," he said.
Carrillo is one of a growing number of Spaniards who have found themselves priced out of the market amid a shortage of social housing and regulations that deter long-term rentals.
The flat provided to Carrillo by the Mundo Justo (Fair World) charity belongs to Techo, a social investment fund that provides rental homes to charity groups working with the homeless, and which in April floated on the Spanish stock market with the support of 33 business partners, including global firms EY and CBRE <CBRE.N>.
Techo owns around 230 flats and works with 50 NGOs who charge rent at 30% below market rates. For investors it's an opportunity to secure a return while also boosting their environment, social and governance (ESG) scores, said Blanca Hernandez, chair of the real estate investment trust.
The housing shortage has been exacerbated by a boom in holiday lets on platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, which has spurred a wave of protests across the country in recent weeks.
Big cities such as Madrid are also having to cope with migration from the countryside to urban centres where the jobs are, said Diego Lozano, CEO of the city's housing agency.
As many as 48,000 people are on a waiting list for social housing in Madrid. Lozano said the city is working to almost triple its social housing stock to 15,000 by 2030, but admitted that still won't meet demand.
He also blamed a recent law designed to protect tenants' rights by allowing vulnerable people to remain in a property for up to two years without paying rent, which he said had a cooling effect on owners weighing long-term rentals.
Landlords are demanding rent payment guarantees from tenants that the poorest can't provide, according to three NGOs consulted by Reuters.
Others are switching to the lucrative short-term market that isn't governed by the same regulations. The supply of long-term rentals has fallen 15% in a year, while short-term rentals mainly for tourists increased by 56% in the year to March, according to Idealista.
Railyway worker Pablo Campos and pensioner Carmen Cajamarca, 67, who live in the same block of apartments have both received letters giving them notice to leave their rented flats in the Madrid neighbourhood of Lavapies after the building where they live was sold to an Argentine fund that is refurbishing its apartments for holiday lets.
Campos has lived in Lavapies for 10 years and will have to leave the neighbourhood because he can no longer afford to pay the rent there. Cajamarca said she has lived in the building for 25 years.
The crisis is so acute that Spanish cities are trying to limit or phase out holiday apartments.
The rate of homelessness has risen by 24% since 2012 to 28,000 people, according to official statistics while, according to a Bank of Spain report, about 45% of people living in rented accommodation are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, the highest proportion in Europe.
Homelessness has increased substantially across Europe over the last decade, the European Commission said, but the extent of the problem in Spain is masked by young Spaniards opting to live with their parents for longer.
More than 60% of 18-34-year-olds live in the family home and Spain had the fastest rising rate of young people living with their parents among major European economies between 2008 and 2022.
Spain's social housing stock is just 1.5% of all homes compared to a European average of 9%, the report added.
Competition for apartments to rent privately is fierce. About 40 people answer each listing that comes on the market in Madrid, according to property listings website Idealista.
The Socialist government's current plan for public housing will add 184,000 units over the next three years. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in May he would like the social housing stock to match the European average during his term ending in 2027.
But the Bank of Spain estimates that an additional 1.5 million more homes are needed to meet that target.
The 90,000 units-per-year pace of homebuilding is trailing growth in demand and far below the 650,000 homes built in 2008, according to official data.
Housing Minister Isabel Rodriguez said on Tuesday that the government had begun to work on a new plan to meet that target.
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