1. Is the private rented market filling the role of social housing in Spain? Montserrat Pareja-Eastaway University of Barcelona and Teresa Sánchez Martinez University of Granada ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

2. Since when? Effects? If so... Why?

3. Outline 1.Introduction 2.Approaching the private rented sector 3.Social housing provision and rented markets in Spain 4.Consequences of PRM as a form of social housing in Spain 5.Conclusions ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

4. INTRODUCTION ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

5. Decades of neglect of PR Particular perception of social housing provision in Spain Blurred edges of homeownership during expansion period Insecure housing in homeownership: highly exposure to financial vulnerability What’s the remaining role of PR in Spain?

6. APPROACHING THE PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

7. Tenure evolution ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March Source: ESLC, 2004-2013

8. 2008: a turning point? ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March Rented sector in Catalonia: number of contracts, rent per square metre

9. Supply side: what counts?  more than 74 per cent (private agents), 14.7 per cent (public institutions), 1.1 per cent (non-profit institutions), 10.7 per cent (other institutions, including employers) (EU-SILC, 2013)  the problem of vacancies  Profitability in the rented market ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

10. Rented market returns (gross rent), public debt returns, and housing revaluation

11. Demand side: filling which role?  Allowing an early start in the housing career of young people. Late emancipation in Spain  Accommodating new types of households. Too scarce rented market in Spain to accommodate changes  Providing shelter to those that have recently arrived to the country. Overcrowded housing and homeownership  Alternative to homeownership for low-income households. Too scarce  Greater flexibility and mobility in the labour market. Out of the country  Stabilising housing prices. In Spain housing was left exposed to speculative market forces ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

12. The private rented market has progressively changed its role in the Spanish housing system towards becoming a means for ‘social’ housing provision and ‘permanent’ housing… …clearly induced by public intervention ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

14. SOCIAL HOUSING PROVISION AND RENTED MARKETS IN SPAIN ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

15. Mismatch between supply and demand of social housing in Spain ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March Supply – finished dwellings – (*) and demand for subsidised housing (VPO), Catalonia, 2011-2014

16. Scarcity of social housing in Spain (differences from Europe)  Not a new phenomenon but a clear consequence of a long term strategy  No (rational) alternatives rather than homeownership for vulnerable households s during expansion periods ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

17. Rented properties being privately owned are actually socially allocated Social Rent Agencies (transferring private rented dwellings to social rent) have not been set up as such in Spain but ‘Mediation networks’ Social Housing Fund created in 2013 in Spain: dwelling repossessed by banks to be used as social housing ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March Private and social rent

18. CONSEQUENCES FOR PRMs OF PERFORMING THE ROLE OF SOCIAL HOUSING AFTER THE CRISIS ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

19. Housing cost overburden rate (over 40 per cent of disposable income) (*) Source: ESLC, 2004-2013 (*) The category: ‘tenant, rent at reduced price or free’ includes rent-free housing. This fact causes a clear underestimation.

20. ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March People at risk of poverty or social exclusion (under 60% of average median income) in the private rented sector, A and B Source: ESLC, 2004-2013

21. ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March Arrears (mortgage or rent, utility bills, or hire purchase), 2005-2012 Source: ESLC, 2004-2013

22. ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March Arrears by tenure Source: ESLC, 2012 Evictions: total and in the rented sector Arrears per tenure Source: Consejo General del Poder Judicial (General Council of the Judiciary)

23. CONCLUSIONS ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

24. The public provision of housing for vulnerable groups in Spain has functioned through the figure of homeownership, abandoning the idea of ​​ creating a decent and affordable social housing stock for those who need it. The boundary between what constitutes private rental housing and social rental housing is increasingly blurred. The question that remains unanswered is to what extent the rented market in Spain can meet all demands considering that today it represents only 12.3 per cent of the total housing stock. All in all, the figures suggest a new future housing scenario with even more blurred boundaries between private rented and social housing. ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March

25. Thank you! mpareja@ub.edu ENHR Wg. Private Rented Markets LSE, London 19th-20th March