housing

There is an acute shortage of housing supply in Spain. So the convents of Toledo have seen an opportunity

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Toledo has had an idea to reinforce the meager housing supply in its historic center. In the city there is the curious contradiction that there is demand for flats for rent while around 150 buildings of the monumental area (both public and private) remain closed and without tenants, so… Why not solve both problems at once? With that philosophy as a backdrop, two convents in Toledo are preparing to become landlords and allocate part of their buildings to rent. The historic center sees its housing offer expand (although still timidly) and in the process the religious orders obtain a new source of income. Quite a ‘win-win’. What has happened? That in Toledo they want to kill several birds with one stone. For some time now, its historic center has faced three challenges that, although at first glance they seem to have little to do with each other, are directly related. The first is the shortage of residential rentals. In Idealista, just over a few are announced right now. 50 apartments for lease and many of them do so as seasonal rentals. For long stays the offer is only 33. The second challenge is represented by abandoned buildings. Last year, the Consortium of the City of Toledo did the math and found that in that same area of ​​the Castilian-La Mancha capital, 150 buildings unused, some in ruins. The third challenge is not so much the city itself but the religious orders that live there: How to achieve income in the 21st century? Where to get money to pay bills or unforeseen events such as repairing the roof of the Discalced Carmelites convent, sunk during a DANA in 2023? Connecting the dots. The Toledo Consortium has come to the conclusion that these three challenges can be connected and has had an idea: to renovate wasted spaces in convents in the city to convert them into homes. And not just any type of housing. Their objective is to move them to the long-term rental market, the one that has the most difficulties in the historic center and more pressured It is seen through tourism. For that purpose, in November The organization gave the green light to the tender for the renovation of two properties: one located in the convent of the Discalced Carmelites and the other in the Immaculate Conception (Nasturtiums). Between them there will be four homes. “New opportunities”. The objective, explains the manager of the Consortium, Jesús Corroto, is to advance in the recovery of the disused heritage of the historic center and in the process generate “new residential opportunities”, especially for young people. The idea is to rehabilitate a building attached to the Discalced Carmelites convent with 131,000 euros to provide it with two new homes with a total constructed area of ​​130 m2. Investments will be made in the Capuchinas property. 130,000 euros to open two new residences in what was once the Priestly House, built at the end of the 16th century. In any case, the organization wants to go further and not stay in those four apartments. The SER chain indicates that it aspires to enable at least a dozen of housing and has already transferred more proposals to other convents. Whether they go ahead or not will basically depend on the budget and what the religious decide. After all, the buildings are private, non-segregable and considered BIC. The initiative would allow the creation between 20 and 30 housesto which other services can be added, such as parking. “Rental ethics”. In the case of the new homes set up in convents, a peculiar circumstance will occur: the Consortium is in charge of the works, but unlike what happens with other accommodation promoted by the Municipal Housing Company, its price will not be limited by a maximum limit. Since these are private properties, it is the religious who must decide what rents they charge to their future tenants, although Corroto already advances in The Country that a “rental ethic” will govern. What the organization he directs has done is put an inflexible condition on the friars and monks of Toledo: the new homes must be dedicated to residential rentals, not become tourist apartments, a business that has already attracted other religious of Spain who have seen the need to take advantage of their buildings. In Seville, for example, not long ago some cloistered nuns agreed to offer a part of their convent to tourists through Airbnb. The reason: selling candy is no longer enough to pay bills. Between 37 and 60 m2. In the case of Toledo, the objective is for the new homes to be available in about a year. To make it possible, the religious orders will assume part of the works and furniture. Once the project is completed, the city will have new apartments with a useful area of between 37 and 60 m2. The residences will have to comply with the regulations that govern the Historic Center of Toledo and will have between one and two rooms. Images | Suraya_M (Flickr) and Wikipedia (Antonio Velez) In Xataka | Toledo has had enough of the mass tourism that saturates the city center. His plan to change it: China

There is a Europe that is suffocating to pay for housing and another that lives in peace. And this map shows the differences

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Beyond the political ups and downs, corruption, unemployment, the war in Ukraine, or the (increasingly) convulsive scenario of international geopolitics, from time to time The CIS reminds us that there is a much more everyday problem that keeps us Spaniards up at night: access to housing. At the end of 2025 39.9% of those surveyed by the organization pointed out housing as “the main problem” facing the country. And it is normal if you take into account the mismatch between supply and demand, the pressure that carries out tourist rentals and (above all) the sharp rise in prices of recent years. Every time we talk about the residential market, however, the same question arises: beyond the exact cost of the square meter (m2), calculated by the General Council of Notaries, the executive or portals like IdealisticHow “unaffordable” is accommodation in Spain? What economic effort does it require from families? Is it more or less than what other European households must assume? Getting perspective Type of housing (in m2) available spending 40% of monthly income. ESPON, the program who is dedicated to studying cohesion of the EU, has published a series of maps that help answer these questions in a quick, direct and, above all, visual way. To prepare them, two parameters have been basically set: the prices of the real estate market for sales and rentals and the income data published by Eurostat. Everything divided by regions. By crossing them the organism has been able to carry out two calculations. The first is to estimate what type of housing (in m2) a person who allocates 40% of their income to this purpose can rent in each EU region. The second is what percentage of their rent that same tenant should dedicate if they wanted a 100 m2 house. Percentage of monthly income necessary to rent a 100 m2 home. ESPON does not stop there. He has also transferred those same questions to the buying and selling market residential. That is, what type of housing could a person willing to invest 40% of their annual income for an entire decade afford? And how many years would you have to endure that same budgetary effort if you wanted to buy a 100 m2 apartment? In both cases the maps are similar and they leave behind a series of conclusions, such as the profound differences that exist within the same country. “Regions containing and surrounding capital cities such as Paris, Berlin, Lisbon and Madrid tend to be less affordable compared to the rest of the nation. Additionally, coastal regions tend to be less affordable, which is also clearly seen in the Netherlands and Germany, Portugal, Spain and France.” Available housing (m2) investing 40% of the income for 10 years. Years necessary to buy a 100 m2 home investing 40% of the income. For example, while a Madrid resident willing to invest 40% of his annual income in housing would need between 20 and 25 years To pay for a 100 m2 house, a resident of the province of Teruel would need at most ten years of effort. In Barcelona it would need around 20-25 years while on the other side of the peninsula, in Pontevedra, between 15 and 20 years would be enough. The worst part in Spain is Malaga, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, where ESPON calculates that on average a buyer would need to invest 40% of their annual income for more than three and a half decades. A very similar effort would have to be endured by the inhabitants of the Algarve, Setúbal, part of the Paris area, Monaco, Corsica or different points spread across Eastern Europe, where ESPON itself recognizes that “quite unaffordable” areas are concentrated. If we talk about the rental market, the panorama It’s not very different. A Madrid resident who would like to rent a 100 m2 apartment would need to dedicate (on average) between 80 and 90% of their income to it. The situation is worse in coastal points, such as Barcelona, ​​Huelva, Malaga and Eastern European regions. In the provinces of Zamora or Huesca they would be enough between 30 and 40%which is closer to the debt ceiling level than recommend assuming the experts. Images | Quique Olivar (Unsplash) and ESPON In Xataka | It is not a country for Spaniards: Madrid and Catalonia are losing national population while gaining foreign population

Tokyo was one of the few megalopolises that had kept housing prices in check. That’s over

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For years half the planet (and another half as well) viewed Tokyo with a mixture of admiration, curiosity and envy. While other metropolises were dealing with increasingly expensive housing, which was expelling the most humble families, the Japanese capital made headlines On the contrary: in 2023 there were who presented it in fact as “the last big city with affordable housing.” At least if we were talking about rents. And that was the most populated city of the planet. There is signs that that is changing. Tokyo’ the affordable‘. Binyamin Appelbaum, columnist for The New York Times, I told it very well in 2023: while a couple on the minimum wage was unable to pay the rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the New York area, another Japanese couple with the same conditions (full-time work and the legal minimum wage) could afford equivalent housing in at least half a dozen districts of Tokyo. The Japanese capital was a benchmark, the example of rentals within reach of any pocket. “The last big city with affordable housing”, titled at full blast around those same dates the Australian newspaper Financial Review. Tokyo vs Manhattan. The data confirms that Appelbaum was not wrong. Although living in Tokyo is far from cheap, in 2023 the city had a residential offer large and diverse enough to not suffocate its residents. Even the most humble. In 2024 Michael Amerson, analyst at the US Department of Housing, explained that renting a one-bedroom apartment in central Tokyo cost around 80,000 yen, about $500. Other sources speak of between 630 and 1,580 dollars per month, but even those figures are far from the 4,000 that is asked for a home of the same type in Manhattan. “Unlike other metropolitan areas around the world, Tokyo has avoided a housing crisis. Residents can enjoy a vibrant urban lifestyle without having to shoulder the financial burden that residents of many other large cities bear,” pointed out Amerson. The reason? To a large extent Tokyo real estate culture. Unlike what happens in other metropolises, the Japanese capital has “an accelerated cycle of housing demolition and reconstruction,” which makes it easier to adapt to the needs of the market. But… And why is that? “People treat houses like cars,” Appelbaum joked in 2023. New construction is prioritized to such an extent that its weight in the market far exceeds that of other cities. Between 2013 and 2018, new housing represented 86% of sales in Japan, while in the US that percentage is usually around 15%. Unlike what happens in other cities that prioritize the conservation of their old buildings or pamper their historic districts, something different takes precedence in Tokyo: urban renewal. It is not just a question of the market or urban regulation. That way of thinking connects with his planning style and the history of a region forced to deal with natural disasters who has also seen how fire and the bombs They affected part of his assets. Added to this are regulatory issues that facilitate the progress of the works and their commitment to tall buildings, homes that are often small by European standards and with few green areas. Signs of change. In recent months, however, some media outlets have stopped talking about the virtues of the Tokyo model to become a question: “Is it still affordable to live there?” That is the doubt that I left bouncing in September The Japan Times in a article in which he confirms that (at least if we talk about the buying and selling market) the city is no longer within reach of any pocket. Tokyoites have encountered a price increase that affects both new housing and second-hand properties. And the latter usually wake up little interest among buyers. a study from the Tokyo Kantei company shows that it is no longer strange that the average price of a used apartment of 80 square meters exceeds 100 million yen, around 540,000 euros, with year-on-year increases that are even above 30%. Are there more indicators? Yes. They are just that, indicators, but at a minimum break the rhetoric that has surrounded the Tokyo real estate market until now. There are studies that speak of year-on-year price increases of 9% or even more than 60% if the focus is expanded and the data from 2021 and 2025 are compared. Prices are also growing in the metropolitan area (although to a lesser extent) and seem to be also affecting the rental market residential. In practice, this means that a family that a few years ago could acquire Quietly, a modern three-bedroom, 70 m2 apartment near the center of Tokyo for just over $400,000 is now forced to look at real estate agencies in other areas. And it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change. The latest data from Tokyo Kantei show that the price of a 70 m2 second-hand apartment is around 114 million yen, 34% more than in 2025. And what is the reason? Better to talk about “reasons”, in the plural. The analysts who have been launched To speculate on the reasons for the price increase, they point to the increase in material and labor costs, the influence of the pandemic on buyers’ tastes (they are now looking for houses with more rooms), the effect of historically low interest rates or simply the increase in demand for housing in Tokyo. While the rest of the country loses population, the capital remains more or less stable either even win residents. Exploring the market. There is another factor that helps understand Tokyo’s price rise, one that also has slipped in in it political debate: home purchases by foreigners, including those for speculative purposes. The weakness of the yen, the fact that Japanese real estate was more affordable than that of other countries and the lack of restrictions on foreign purchases has attracted the interest of investors of other nationalities, which has in turn been felt in the price per m2. The data are certainly eloquent. In … Read more

The housing crisis in the Pyrenees opens the debate on the limits of camping

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“I am a temporary worker and I come to work in the Tena Valley. The rents are 800 euros and I am not going to share a flat. I prefer to live in the van with my cat (…) I don’t understand why they focus on me when I don’t break the regulations.” The words are those of an indignant woman. One to which the Civil Guard demands movement when it understands that it is camping illegally. One that, if what is said in the video is true, is completely right and the regulations are on its side. What happened? The video is brought to X by a user of the social network and in it you see a woman who, between irony and indignation, explains that she works as a seasonal worker in the Tena Valley (Huesca), that she lives in her van and that the Civil Guard is asking her to leave because, supposedly, she is camping. The video shows the conversation between the woman and one of the agents. He defends that “it’s been going on for a month and a half now” and that “that can be considered camping.” She, for her part, alleges that she does not take any items outside and that she also moves, which the agent also acknowledges. “Rents are 800 euros”. In her video, the protagonist points out that the cost of housing is very high in the Tena Valley and that she does not want to share a flat. “I prefer to live in the van with my cat,” he emphasizes. The truth is that this enclave right next to the Pyrenees is very tense. In fact, it was only a few months ago that he was born. Decent Housing Viello Aragón in defense of access to housing in this Aragonese area. They point out that the area is full of tourists. The problem is not just a matter of underused second homes. The group points out that the European funds dedicated to sustainable tourism are causing the attraction of more and more visitors with the conversion into apartments and houses as rural complexes, which worsens the conflict. They defend that it should be stopped the delivery of new licenses for tourist use, they propose the creation of a public housing pool, declaring the region as a stressed area in order to control prices and punish the owners of more than four residential properties who have empty homes. The final objective is to facilitate access to housing and so that the economy can diversify so as not to live solely on tourism. Yes, the law is on your side (sort of). The truth is that if the author of the video complies with what she says, the law is on her side. As explained by the colleagues of Motorpassionthere are no regulations that specify a maximum time in which a person can spend the night in their car. Because camping in a place not authorized for it is illegal but spending the night is allowed. The PROT Instruction 2023/14 It is the one that collects these differences. It states that “parking is not camping” as long as: That the vehicle, with the engine stopped, is only in contact with the ground through the wheels (stabilizing legs or any other device is not used, except for chocks, provided for by the General Traffic Regulations). That the vehicle does not occupy more surface area than what it occupies when closed, that is, without the deployment of projectable elements, chairs, tables, etc., elements that can invade a surface larger than that delimited by the perimeter of the vehicle, understood as the plan projection of the same. That the vehicle does not emit any type of fluids or noises to the outside. One but. And then, the instruction also states the following: All of the above will be understood without prejudice to the powers of the town councils, through their municipal regulations, to limit or regulate, without discrimination based on the type of vehicle, the stopping and parking points under criteria of physical organization of traffic, commerce or environmental criteria, or with the purpose of favoring the arrival of this type of motorhome tourism, establishing for this purpose, parking zones or areas or, where appropriate, camping. Likewise, the regional regulations that have been approved or could be approved for the purpose of tourism promotion in the national territory will be taken into account. to promote a new type of accommodation that in any case will coexist with the full application of national legislation on traffic and road safety and especially the regulations relating to stopping and parking maneuvers. The matter here is a little more delicate because the video does not explain the situation regarding any of these concepts. What the instruction makes clear is that the City Council can delimit where a motorhome can park. In the images it appears that the van is located on the outskirts of a town but it is not clear whether or not the vehicle may be parked there, specifically. Without knowing the municipality, we also do not know if the town’s mobility ordinance imposes a maximum parking time. In the case of not wanting to park in the town, the situation is more delicate. In this case, regional regulations require you to spend the night in an area expressly authorized for this purpose since the Tena Valley is a protected environmental space. What do we get clear? In a municipality, a person can spend the night without any problem in their car or caravan as long as the vehicle is parked correctly and they do not take belongings and objects outside (from chairs to awnings). In that case, the driver is considered to be camping and this can only be done in an area authorized for this. Therefore, living inside a van and making life in it is not illegal as long as no noise or fluids are generated that are emitted to the outside. … Read more

For years, foreigners who wanted sun and beach bought a house in Spain. Now they are looking for something else: luxury housing

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The real estate market emits signals which show that foreigners have won a relevant weight in the sale and purchase of luxury homes, which leads us to think about changes in the profile of the international buyer. Spain is no longer just a destination for families or couples from other countries interested in getting a small apartment for their vacation in search of sun and beach. It also receives wealthy people who want settle herein the cities, and is able to pay for his house out of pocket. The data are certainly suggestive. “First level destination”. I warned him recently in an interview with Idealista Paloma Pérez Bravo, CEO of Residencial de Lucas Fox, a platform specialized in the premium market: “Spain has gone from being a sun and beach getaway to a top-level luxury destination.” From your experiencethe country “has stopped being the home of the sun and has become the home of investment. People want more first homes than second homes because they are moving to Spain.” It’s not the only change he appreciates. Upon your signature, Bravo explains to SERdigital nomads are now arriving, entrepreneurs from America, English and American, also businessmen and investors who used to invest in the US and now find themselves with problems there due to Trump’s immigration policy. Is there data? Yes, although they come mainly from companies, so they must be handled with some caution. In your report On market forecasts for 2026, Lucas Fox reveals for example that 62% of buyers Those who close transactions worth more than 2.5 million euros are foreigners, more than 60% of ultra-luxury sales are signed without the need for financing and a good part of the acquisitions are made in search of a “main residence”, not to convert the property into a vacation home or as an investment. Looking ahead to next year, the company also expects that activity in the segments prime and super prime grow 3-6% and 6-10% respectively and leaves behind a fundamental idea that tells us about the profile of those clients who purchase the most expensive houses: “The international buyer is already the majority.” Specifically, the weight of Europeans stands out, followed by Americans and British. Other percentage: 92%. Lucas Fox is not the first to warn of the frequency with which foreign accents are heard in real estate agencies specializing in the premium market. A few months ago Barnes claimed that 92% of buyers from the Spanish luxury market were already foreigners. Of them, around half (49%) were also investors from outside the EU, with a notable presence especially of Mexicans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Russians, Chinese and Arabs. The community members They accounted for 43% while the Spanish, according to the real estate agency, were left with a meager 8% of the total. Are there more clues? The answer is once again affirmative. Another company that shared data recently is LuxuryEstatea premium housing portal that confirms that searches by international buyers interested in the Spanish market already represent a substantial part of its traffic. Above all, the demand for information from european countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Belgium or the Netherlands and the interest aroused by the premium segment of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Madrid or the Valencian Community. Other regions, such as the Canary Islands and the Basque Country, also seem to be emerging. A consolidated destination. LuxuryEstate confirm in fact that ours “is no longer just an aspirational destination, but a highly competitive market.” The comment is in line with what it points out to Lucas Fox or even CaixaBank Research, which in a recent analysis Regarding the changes in the profile of the resident foreigner who acquires housing in Spain, he warns: “Spain has established itself as one of the most attractive destinations for luxury investment in Europe.” Different buyers. In the same reportCaixaBank recalls that the demand for housing by foreigners has grown in recent years, first after the pandemic and then thanks to the improvement in financing. It also clarifies that there are differences between resident foreigners and those who do not live here and are mainly looking for houses for their vacations or as an investment. On average, the former (residents) paid around €1,795/m2 in 2024 and the latter (non-residents) €3,063/m2. These are values ​​significantly higher than those recorded by national buyers, which moved at 1,713. However, the last balance of Property Registrars shows that foreign demand for housing has reduced in the third quarter of the year, representing 13.6% of the total. The percentage reflects the entire market, not just the luxury segment, although there are those who warn that the latter is not immune to the shortage of supply, which among other issues affects its prices. Images | DaYsO (Unsplash) In Xataka | After Catalonia, there is another autonomous community considering prohibiting buying a home to invest: Canary Islands

There are those who think that the housing crisis can be solved by building. At the Polytechnic University of Catalonia they believe they are wrong

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Spain has a problem with housing. That is an (almost) objective fact. The CIS says so, which places it as the great concern of the Spanish, but a quick review of the newspaper archive arrives to confirm it. During the last months few topics have generated more political debate or have taken out so many people on the street such as difficulties in accessing a home. What is no longer so clear is how to solve this “crisis” residential area recognized by the Government itself. Should we build more houses? Does Spain suffer from a housing deficit? Do we need more land to build? Usually the answer to those three questions is a strong ‘yes’. Now a new study signed by two professors of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and published in a magazine linked to the Ministry of Housing points out that perhaps we were wrong. What has happened? That two professors from the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Barcelona (ETSAB), Blanca Arellano-Ramos and Josep Roca-Cladera, have published a study about the problems that Spain is facing in terms of housing. The report in question is titled ‘Five theses about housing policy in Spain’ and is included in a monograph of CyTETa magazine published by the Ministry of Housing. So far nothing exceptional. The curious thing is that the text questions many of the ideas rooted in the real estate sector, such as that our country suffers from a housing deficit or needs more land to build. While the Bank of Spain (BE) estimates 700,000 homes the mismatch between supply and demand, the study questions whether there really is a ‘hole’ in the market or that prices will go down if we build more. Is there a housing deficit? As already indicated in its title, the article is structured around five theses. And the first addresses precisely that point: Does Spain suffer from a housing deficit? The question is interesting because it is one of the most deeply rooted ideas in the sector. The Bank of Spain itself has calculated that it would be necessary 700,000 houses to meet residential demand. For Arellano-Ramos and Roca-Cladera the reality is quite different. In his opinion, one cannot talk about a deficit without first taking into account the excess of housing accumulated between 2011 and 2021 and the stock of vacant properties. The researchers remember that between 2011 and 2021 the housing stock exceeded the growth in the number of homes by 959,554 units, generating a considerable pocket. In fact, they assure that in 2021 the “accumulated excess” was close to 8.1 million properties, a “‘cushion’ more than enough to absorb temporary housing deficits such as the one produced during the 2021-2024 period,” recalls the UPC in the statement in which he reports the study. What does that mean? That for researchers it is not so obvious that Spain suffers from a shortage of new housing. In their analysis they also remember that a good part of the excess of houses and apartments corresponds to second homes and empty homes. The INE itself estimates that at least in 2021 there were 3.84 million of uninhabited properties, 14.4% of the real estate stock. That percentage far exceeds what most experts consider “desirable” (5%), but at least in the statement The UPC does not address another fundamental aspect: the distribution of these wasted properties, if they are located in stressed markets, such as Madrid, Barcelona or Malaga, or in centers where demand is minimal or even non-existent, in the case of emptied Spain. What if we build more? That is the second question the researchers address. What if we build more homes? Would prices be reduced? Their response is once again skeptical to say the least: increasing buildings will not lead to greater social equity nor will it serve to soften prices. “On the contrary”, slide the UPC note. “According to the authors of the study, the solution is not to build more new homes so that the laws of the market balance prices. In addition to having serious environmental effects, what favors is the real estate bubble like the one that occurred around 2000.” What happens in other neighboring countries? Among other arguments, Arellano-Ramos and Roca-Cladera recall that the rise in prices is not a problem exclusive to the Spanish market, but rather something widespread on the continent. So the question is obvious: if the increase in prices is due to the imbalance between supply and demand, do the majority of EU countries share that same problem? “Is there simultaneously a restriction of supply in relation to demand occurring throughout Europe in relation to demand that explains the increase in residential prices? It does not seem that this is plausible. Therefore it is not reasonable, prima facieturn to the scarce construction of new housing as the main cause of the price of housing”, they reflect the authors before remembering that Spain has invested a higher percentage of GDP in construction than the European average. Do we need more land? The researchers also question whether in Spain the problem of lack of accessibility to housing can be explained by the scarcity of land. And to prove it, they go to the newspaper archive: between the late 90s and the early 2000s, buildable land was made available in the country, which allowed for “massive construction” of residential housing. This boom was not accompanied, however, by a reduction in the price of the square meter. Quite the opposite: residential prices increased, as in other parts of Europe. If Spain saw housing prices rise between 1996 and 2008, it was not because there was no land on which to build or build new homes. “Spain became more urbanized than ever and the result did not represent a reduction in prices, on the contrary,” underlines the UPC in your statementwhich recalls that between 2000 and 2012 Spain was the European country with the greatest “consumption” of land: more than 2,400 square kilometers (km2), almost as … Read more

The housing market is so broken that it has found an unexpected channel for express purchases: Telegram

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The housing market is overheated. It comes with taking a look at your price curvehe residential deficit calculated by the sector, the accelerated tempos of the agencies or simply the conditions (increasingly draconian) that real estate agencies require from tenants looking for an apartment to confirm it. There is another place however where that fever is clearly perceivedone that has little to do with agencies, portals like Idealista or the offices of the promoters: Telegram. There it is increasingly easier to find apartment purchases that are closed in minutes with a clear investment focus. Seen and unseen. The news I advanced it a few days ago The Country. If there were doubts about the imbalance between supply and demand in the Spanish real estate market or to what extent housing is awakening the appetite of investors comes with taking a look at Telegram. In the same messaging app that many of us use to talk to our families or friends, there are groups with thousands of subscribers that have become real real estate showcases. Of course, with certain peculiarities: speed prevails in the channels, the ‘seen and unseen’, with a clearly investor focus. It is not unusual for sales to be settled in a matter of minutes, sometimes by buyers who do not even get to visit the home they are purchasing in person. At the end of the day, you are not looking for a home. Generally, those who buy do so attracted by the promise of high returns. And one of the most popular ways is the rental market. How do they work? The mechanism is quite simple. The channels are run by specialized companies that are previously in charge of tracking the market in search of assets with potential, apartments in locations with rising markets, at reasonable prices and in which it is possible to charge tenants monthly payments that, over time, will translate into profitability of the 6%, 8%, 9% or even 13%, far above than other more conventional investments offer. Once the company ‘hunts’ that real estate asset, it offers it on its Telegram channel with a series of key data: area, location, age, sale price, estimated rent and profitability forecasts. Potential buyers send emails showing their interest and then the company chooses among the candidates, either by lottery or following the order in which they have written. It is not unusual for the buyer to never see the property or even live in another city. At the end of the day, what counts is the promise of economic return. How frequent is it? Last year the General Council of Notaries registered almost 716,200 home sales in Spain. Among this enormous volume of operations, those closed expressly through Telegram could have represented a small part (there is no official data), but even so the phenomenon is interesting enough that it has followers. The Country speaks from several companies that launch offers every week through groups in which they reach 3,000, 10,500 or even 15,000 subscribers. Specifically, he cites three companies in the sector: Winteromics, Nexiaprop and Buy 1 apartmentalthough not all of them are the same nor do they use Telegram with the same frequency. More than just speed. That the formula is arousing interest is explained by the characteristics of the real estate market. In cities with very stressed markets, such as Madrid, Barcelona either Valenciarents rise, but so do (and not a little) the price of properties, so its real estate stock loses interest for local investors in search of available homes to direct them to the rental market. Solution? Look beyond the metropolises, in other locations, if possible in municipalities where prices are still reasonable, where population is gaining or an increase in demand is expected in the near future, for example due to the arrival of a multinational. Hence, buyers are interested in homes that may be hundreds or thousands of kilometers from where they live. Mediation companies not only promise huge financial returns. Sometimes, if the expected returns are not achieved, they undertake to cover the difference or even offer their services as intermediaries to take care of the renovations or rental management. That is, even if the investor has in mind becoming a landlord, he or she will not even have to act as such. The company itself takes care of it… after payment (of course) of a commission. Looking for strategic areas. The focus is usually on homes located in working-class areas, without conflicts, with sales prices that usually do not reach or range around 100,000 euros. Companies also manage to ensure that these properties are not even offered on the open market, thus becoming the first to hunt for ‘bargains’ for investors. The companies they allege who with their work increase the rental supply and unlock properties that have been empty for some time. Of course, it’s not all advantages. As in any investment, the sector also recognizes that there are “risks”, especially for buyers who purchase apartments without first seeing them in situ. Images | Ivan Radic (Flickr) and Kaspar Upmanis (Unsplash) In Xataka | For years, motorhomes were a luxury. Now they are something else: the last stronghold against the housing crisis

Faced with impossible housing prices, an alternative is gaining weight: living in a motorhome

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If you consult the online dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy you will see that, at least for academics, a mobile home It is a “vehicle with its own engine conditioned to make life in it.” In the Spain of 2025, that of the housing crisishe floor deficit and the price escalationcaravans increasingly have more of the latter and less of the former. They are still vehicles, but above all they are spaces in which their tenants live: they sleep, have breakfast, cook, wash, study or spend time reading or watching movies. They do not do it out of vocation (at least not in all cases), but out of necessity. Although they work, have a stable job and a salary, the money is not enough to access an increasingly tight real estate market, so they choose to do their daily lives in the few square meters of a motorhome. Housing, impossible. that the housing is getting more expensive (a lot) is nothing new. In fact, its price is one of the issues that most take away sleep to the Spaniards and has already motivated massive protests, some with a hint of tenant strike included. However, it is good to review a few data to understand the scope of the housing crisis that the country is experiencing. According to Idealista, rents have skyrocketed 96% in just a decade, a percentage that falls short if markets such as that of Palm, Tenerife either Malaga. The situation in the purchase and sale market is not much more buoyant. The increase in the price of the square meter, which fool around now with the values ​​prior to the brick bubble, have complicated access to the market, forcing families to dedicate years of salary to pay for housing. Result: homes that exceed the “effort rate” recommended economic and young people who only have one option left if they want to become owners: inheritances or donations. What if I move to a caravan? In view of all of the above, more and more people are asking themselves the question: if the market has become so draconian, if it prevents any ability to save and requires assuming exorbitant prices, why not change apartments for caravans? There is no data to help follow the trend, but a search on Google or diving on YouTube to check that abound the news of people who moves into mobile homes. It occurs in Balearics and Canary Islandsvery places touristifiedbut also in cities like Madrid. By necessity, by strategy. Although the price of housing is (almost) always the backdrop, not everyone who moves into a caravan does so for the same reason. There are those who take the step pure necessitybecause their salary does not allow them to rent a regular home, and those who decide to spend a stage of their life living in a caravan in order to gain savings capacity and make the jump at some point (without pressure or rush) into the buying and selling market. That is the case of Antonio, a 37-year-old civil servant who I counted these days to The Country What is it like to live in a caravan in Madrid. Although he has a stable job with a salary of about 1,900 euros per month, Antonio, a native of Alcoy, has lived in a motorhome since 2020. The formula gives him flexibility when he has to travel for work, allows him to have more private space than he enjoyed when he shared a flat and, above all, it seems like the smartest option today. “I live in a motorhome right now because I want to, not out of necessity. Although obviously if housing prices were different I would move to a house, my future project. What happens is that after this satisfactory experience I have become more demanding and I am not willing to be drowned like I did for 10 years,” relates. His mobile home, a second-hand 2003 Fiat Ducato Carioca, cost him 22,000 euros and by living in it, utility costs have been significantly reduced. Right now they don’t reach 100 euros a month. Are there more cases? Of course. The profiles vary greatly from one case to another. Also from one region to another. There are those who live in motorhomes because it is “the only solution” that finds itself in a market of skyrocketing prices, who are forced to opt for that exit while they work temporarily in tourist destinations and those who prefer to enjoy “their” handful of square meters before sharing a conventional and larger apartment with other colleagues. “I have everything in four meters, but it is mine and I don’t have to share a flat,” confessed in April to The Vanguard Begoña, a 61-year-old woman who lives in a motorhome in the Balearic Islands. “Here I have my kitchen, next to it I have the oven and the refrigerator and the field. I pay for parking, but it is infinitely cheaper than renting,” agreed in 2023 during a talk with La Sexta Carlos, a 23-year-old engineer from Murcia who had a job opportunity in Madrid. When he started looking at apartments he decided that the best thing was a caravan. Is there data? One of the big problems in tracking the trend is that it lacks official data as such. The INE census shows that in Spain there are 7,200 people registered in shacks and caravans, but that category does not have to fit exactly with that of people who choose to live in motorhomes and the statistical institute itself recognizes that when preparing the census it encountered “a certain limitation”, so the overall figure is probably higher. As a reference, in 2024 the local press pointed out that in Ibiza alone there were almost about thirty of caravan settlements. Even was spoken of locals with houses who chose to move into caravans in the high season to rent their houses to tourists. The goal: get some extra income in the summer. More registrations. … Read more

If the solution to the housing crisis in Madrid is to build, there is a municipality that has taken the lead: Alcobendas

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Madrid begins the countdown to have a new and large pool of apartments in the north, relevant news if you take into account how tense its market is and the serious deficit of housing that drags. The Alcobendas City Council has just given green light to the partial plan of the new neighborhood of Los Carriles-Valgrande, a new (and enormous) area of ​​​​the town that will have around 8,600 homesa good part of them (more than 4,600) protected. We will still have to wait before seeing the new blocks built, but its promoters are already anticipating that it will be “the largest urban development project in the north of Madrid”, with a wide range of residential, services and parks. What has happened? That Madrid is a little closer to reinforcing its residential offer with an injection of 8,600 homesa good part of them under protected regime. And that is always news in a market like the capital, marked by the price escalation (both in sales and rentals), certain access conditions each time more draconian and the imbalance between supply and demand. In fact in one of his latest reports The Association of Real Estate Developers of Madrid (Asprima) states that to meet the demand of the community it is necessary to create 40,000 homes per yearwell above the volume of new construction that is being generated right now. As a reference, remember that last year “a maximum peak” of 23,500 homes was delivered and everything indicates that the pace of completions will not reach that mark in the coming years either. Where will they be built? These 8,600 new homes will be built in Los Carriles-Valgrandea new (and ambitious) neighborhood planned in the municipality of Alcobendas. The initiative is interesting for several reasons. In addition to reinforcing the offer, its promoters they boast that it will be “the largest urban project” in the north of the community and one of the developments “with the highest proportion of affordable housing.” In addition, it will “complete” Alcobendas up to its limit with the capital. The new buildings will arrive accompanied by hectares of green areas, two new parks and more than 55,000 m2 dedicated to the tertiary and commercial sector. Its implementation will also generate employment: Alcobendas City Council speaks of 4,000 positions during construction and more than a thousand once the neighborhood is completed. In terms of mobilized capital, it is estimated that the investment will be around 2,300 million euros and the return for the municipality will be around 511 million. Do you know anything else? Yes. Of the 8,600 homes that will be built, around 4,600 (54%) will be protected and 40% will be built on municipal plots. The project also includes the creation of 570,000 square meters of green areas and open spaces, which will include two new and large parks, one next to Monte de Valdelatas and another near the Valdelacasa stream. “Each one will have dimensions that are equivalent to six times the Andalusia parkin Alcobendas”, they need the promoters of the project, who remember that all trees that are affected by the urbanization will be replaced. In fact, they estimate that the area will go from having 2,555 to more than 6,700. He dossier The urban planning area specifies that in total it will occupy about 2.17 million square meters, of which about 57% will be public surface. 25% will be dedicated to green areas and almost 20% to equipment and services. Once it goes ahead, its promoters estimate that it will be able to accommodate around 25,800 inhabitants, a considerable population injection for the area if one takes into account that right now Alcobendas has (according to the INE) 121,400 registered. Why is it news? The project is not new. In fact, Leopoldo Arnaiz, manager of the Valgrande compensation board, remember that there are people who have been working on it for more than 20 years. If it is news now it is because it has just overcome a key obstacle at a bureaucratic level: on Tuesday the local plenary session of Alcobendas gave the green light to the new partial plan, which will allow further progress in the processing of the urbanization. The approval has also been majority: the plan went ahead with the favorable photo of 26 of the 27 councilors of the corporation. “With the approval of the new partial plan we offer legal security for buyers, investors and to continue with the urbanization project in the area and maintain the action schedule,” stands out the mayor of the town, Rocío García Alcántara. Among other issues, the document details the distribution of homes, public spaces and parks, marks the location and layout of roads and what land will be reserved, for example, for green areas. And from now on? The step is also important because it helps urbanization overcome the legal obstacles those he had encountered. In his day the Supreme delayed it due to a technical defect after noticing a failure in the strategic environmental evaluation of an artificial mountain. Once the urbanization works allow it, the idea is to start the work to build blocks and have the first homes “as soon as possible”although the Consistory does not specify dates. “The final approval of the partial plan is great news,” claims Arnaiz. “Today we take a decisive step. We continue to advance and comply with the roadmap that we announced in June. And we reaffirm our commitment to this development, because it is viable, sustainable and necessary, since it responds to a real demand from the residents of the municipality and the north of Madrid.” Images | Valgrande and Alcobendas City Council In Xataka | Madrid needs to decentralize its tourism if it does not want to suffocate. So he’s betting on a “Chinatown” in Usera

Spain wants to bet on rent with an option to buy in the face of the housing crisis. First you must solve your black hole

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The Government has decided to expand its arsenal to alleviate the serious housing crisis that Spain is going through, a crisis marked by the decoupling between housing supply and demand, the rise in prices and a market so inaccessible that more and more young people find that the only way to have a home is to wait for their parents donate it. A few weeks ago, during a speech in Congress, Pedro Sánchez advanced that the Executive wants recover aid for rent with option to buy. The measure is part of a broader plan with more legs, but in recent weeks it has generated as much expectation as skepticism. The reason: although there are still unknowns to clear up, everything indicates that the scope of the new aid will be limited. What will the help consist of? What the Government plans is to offer aid up to 30,000 euros for rent with option to buy homes with permanent protection. The initiative is designed for young people from up to 35 years and its objective is that that amount ended up being discounted of the final price of the property, in case the tenant decides to buy it. “The aid will be used to pay the rent, which will allow the young person to save to own their home,” they need from the ministry. When focusing on VPO, the focus is on properties that must conform to a series of requirements, such as respecting a pre-established price and certain guidelines when changing hands. “This means that if in the future you want to sell that home, you will have to do so at an appraised price and to a person who meets the same requirements as the previous owner,” explains the Government. “In this way we protect the homes paid for with state resources.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. Do we know anything else? Yes. There are still details to be outlined, but we know that the measure is included in the State Housing Plan (PEV) for the period 2026-2030where it is combined with other proposals that aspire to “consolidate a public system of access to housing” and revolve around five major goals: creating more and better supply, reducing the rate of financial effort, focusing on stressed markets and lowering the age at which young people become independent. As? To achieve that ultimate goal the PEV contemplates offer rental aid for the purchase of housing in municipalities of emptied Spain (La Moncloa speaks of 10,800 euros for localities “at demographic risk”), youth guarantees and “aid for renting with the option to buy housing with permanent protection of up to 30,000 euros.” Sanchez too has spoken of non-payment of rent insurance for young people. Support for VPO on a rent-to-own basis is not exactly new. It was already contemplated in the state housing plans 2005-2008 and 2009-2012. How has the idea been received? Sánchez launched his announcement to mid octoberduring the interparliamentary meeting of the Socialist Group, but a quick Google search shows that in recent weeks it has generated some skepticism. Not so much because of the fear that it will end up causing an increase in rents (something that the leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, reproached her for) but because of the doubts that exist about the real impact that the aid will have. The reason: in reality in Spain very few VPOs are built for rent with an option to buy. His mark is testimonial. Are there so few? The official data published by Raquel Sánchez’s department speak for themselves. If we talk about protected housing for rent with the option to buy with “definitive qualification” (that is, already completed), the state registry shows only 2,300 over the last decade. There are not many and they are concentrated in just seven autonomous communities. What’s more, there is not a single one between August of last year and June, a period of 11 months during which no home eligible to benefit from the aid announced by the Government was completed. If what we are talking about is “provisional ratings” (still under construction) the balance sheet is not buoyant either (less than 70 in the last 15 months). The data includes both VPOs from state and regional plans. What do the experts say? Not everyone agrees. For Javier Burón, manager of Nasuvinsa, the key lies not so much in what has been built so far but in what is done for the future. That is, the effectiveness of the measure in stimulating supply. “There is an attempt to restart the machine for building protected housing, although focused on rentals, so it makes no sense to look at the past,” he explains in an interview with The Country. In fact 40% of resources of the PEV focus precisely on increasing the supply of protected housing on a permanent basis. For Carolina Roca, president of the Association of Real Estate Developers of Madrid (Asprima), the reading is somewhat different. “The aid announced in the PEV has, once again, a conceptual error: we have a problem of supply of subsidized housing and not demand. The PEV should be aimed at increasing the construction of subsidized housing, so aid should go to supply rather than demand. What sense does it make to provide aid of 30,000 euros for a figure for which only 65 homes are built per year?” Roca asks in statements to the Idealista portal. Images | Ronni Kurtz (Unsplash) In Xataka | The Basque Country wants more homes but does not have much land. Solution: build 2,000 apartments on top of other houses

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