According to the latest report by CaixaBank Research, housing has become the main concern for European citizens due to the significant imbalance between the creation of new households and available supply, the shortage of social housing and pressure on prices.
The Balearic Association of National and International Real Estate Agencies (ABINI) has assessed the latest report published by CaixaBank Research, which analyses why housing has become the main concern of European citizens. For the association, the document confirms with data what the sector has been warning about for years: the imbalance between the creation of new homes and available supply, combined with high tax pressure and regulatory uncertainty, is putting pressure on prices and driving residents out of the market.
ABINI President Daniel Arenas pointed out that ‘the report puts figures on a reality that we experience with particular intensity in the Balearic Islands: more households and more cohabitation units are being created than homes. The social housing stock remains clearly insufficient and the tax burden on housing is among the highest in Europe.’
Intervention without supply: the perfect cocktail for imbalance
ABINI insists that the central government’s intervention in the rental market over the last seven years ‘has created a legislative tangle that discourages supply’.
According to Arenas, ‘legal uncertainty has led to a massive shift towards seasonal rentals and has slowed down projects specifically aimed at residential rentals. Without supply, any intervention only puts more pressure on the market.’
The association believes that, instead of coordinating with the autonomous communities, ‘housing has been used as a political weapon,’ which has led to regulatory contradictions and institutional deadlock. ‘It is incomprehensible that the same party that promotes and approves measures demanded by the sector in the Balearic Islands then overturns them in Madrid or takes them to the Constitutional Court, generating even more uncertainty, as was the case with the much-needed regulation of real estate agents, approved in the Balearic Islands and subsequently overturned in Madrid. Even more serious is the fact that the law allowing the creation of thousands of homes for residents has been taken to the Constitutional Court, blocking its implementation and delaying urgent solutions for citizens. The excuses used to continually block the creation of affordable housing no longer work. People need homes, and the situation cannot be further exacerbated with political arguments or ideologies that are far removed from the reality experienced by thousands of residents in the Balearic Islands,’ added the president of ABINI.
Balearic Islands: maximum pressure, minimum social housing
The report highlights the gap between supply and demand in Spain and the shortage of social housing compared to other European countries. In this context, ABINI points out that Spain continues to lag behind in terms of public housing stock while maintaining one of the highest tax burdens on housing: ‘Around 30% of construction costs are taxes and fees,’ Arenas points out.
‘Meanwhile, we see no effective inter-ministerial collaboration to make public land available, nor any real progress on the grand housing announcements. They promised 180,000 homes per year, but the data does not reflect that pace,’ says Arenas.
For ABINI, the situation in the Balearic Islands is even more delicate due to demographic pressure, the constant creation of new households and structural land limitations. ‘If we continue down the path of intervention without facilitating new supply aimed at residents, the problem will only get worse,’ warns Arenas, also referring to the analysis commissioned by the regional government together with Professor Nasarre on the impact of restrictive policies.
Legal certainty and institutional collaboration
The association calls for a change of approach based on three pillars:
- Stable and predictable legal certainty.
- Genuine collaboration between central government and autonomous communities.
- Activation of public land and administrative streamlining for housing intended for residents.
‘The Balearic Islands need structural solutions, not political confrontation. The market cannot be corrected solely by price caps; it can be corrected by increasing supply, reducing obstacles and ensuring regulatory stability,’ concludes Daniel Arenas.
ABINI reiterates its willingness to collaborate with all administrations to promote measures that will increase the stock of affordable housing and respond to a concern that, as confirmed by the European report, is already central to citizens.
