Costa Blanca South
Rental Strain: Growing housing affordability crisis in Valencian Community
By Anna Ellis •
Published: 18 May 2024 • 17:46
Rental Strain: Growing housing affordability crisis in Valencian Community. Image: Reshetnikov_art / Shutterstock.com.
In 2023, the average resident of the Valencian Community had to allocate 44 per cent of their gross salary towards rent, compared to 38 per cent in 2022.
These figures are courtesy of a study titled Relation of Salaries and Rental Housing in 2023.
This study, based on data from average salaries from job listings on the InfoJobs platform and average rental housing prices from the Fotocasa Real Estate Index, highlights a significant increase in rental costs.
Throughout 2023, rental housing prices in the Valencian Community saw a steep annual rise of 14.6 per cent, reaching €11.60 per square meter per month by December.
With the average gross salary in the Valencian Community recorded at €25,540 in 2023 (equivalent to €2,128 gross monthly), residents were required to dedicate 44 per cent of their income to renting an 80-square-metre home, marking the highest percentage in the past five years.
Outpacing Salary Growth
The study s findings underscore a concerning trend where rental prices have soared to historic highs, outpacing salary growth.
This escalation in rental costs has pushed the burden of housing expenses well beyond the recommended threshold set by European control organisations, which advise that no more than 30 per cent of income should be spent on housing.
Currently, this expenditure exceeds the recommended limit by over 10 percentage points compared to a decade ago, resulting in heightened housing unaffordability.
María Matos, Director of Studies and spokesperson for Fotocasa, expresses concern over this trend, emphasising that in most regions of Spain, except for two, the financial strain imposed by rental payments has reached detrimental levels.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our
Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Originally from Derbyshire, Anna has lived in the middle of nowhere on the Costa Blanca for 19 years. She is passionate about her animal family including four dogs and four horses, musicals and cooking.
Known as the PEOPLE’S PAPER, Euro Weekly News is the leading English language newspaper in Spain. And it’s FREE!
Covering the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Almeria, Axarquia, Mallorca and beyond, EWN supports and inspires the individuals, neighbourhoods, and communities we serve, by delivering news with a social conscience. Whether it’s local news in Spain, UK news or international stories, we are proud to be the voice for the expat communities who now call Spain home.
With around half a million print readers a week and over 1.5 million web views per month, EWN has the biggest readership of any English language newspaper in Spain. The paper prints over 150 news stories a week with many hundreds more on the web – no one else even comes close.
Our publication has won numerous awards over the last 25 years including Best Free Newspaper of the Year (Premios AEEPP), Company of the Year (Costa del Sol Business Awards) and Collaboration with Foreigners honours (Mijas Town Hall). All of this comes at ZERO cost to our readers. All our print and online content always has been and always will be FREE OF CHARGE.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Close
