A recent survey carried out by the Ministry of Housing among young people in Spain shows that they simply do not want to rent. The majority of the interviewed would rather choose to buy instead of renting. The plans set up by the Housing Ministry to encourage young people to rent rather than borrow money, they will later find extremely difficult to pay back, have come up against the age-old tradition in this country of owning one’s own house as early as possible. In fact, only 11 per cent of families in Spain live in apartments that they do not own.

Other reasons for not renting are the precarious condition of many apartments on the market and the high guarantee payments demanded by the tenants. Aspects that are valued more highly in other European countries, such as freedom of movement in order to follow a new job, were not taken into consideration at all by about half of those interviewed. Only 14 per cent of those interviewed had thought of renting in the coming two years, against 33.7 per cent who planned to buy. A very small number (5.4 per cent) were willing to consider both options.

An astonishing 76 per cent of Spanish workers aged between 20 and 30 still live at home, against a figure of 12 per cent for those who live with partners of the opposite sex. Another option quite popular in other European countries, which is house sharing, is seen by only 6.6 per cent of Spaniards as a viable alternative.