The home is a fundamental asset for households and has traditionally been a mechanism of protection against a fall in income. In this report, we analyse the extent to which social needs are met in this ambit, structuring the discussion around three sub-aspects or basic challenges:

• Firstly, the ability to access a home without making an excessive financial sacrifice; 

• Secondly, the fact that existing homes should offer oc­cupants decent and adequate conditions; 

• Lastly, energy poverty that affects health and social in­tegration must be prevented. 

The information obtained shows that the most serious problems (such as late rent or mortgage payments that po­tentially lead, if repeated, to eviction) affect only a small proportion of the Spanish population, though they were more common during the financial crisis. In addition, the cost of housing remains a very serious problem for some social groups, which have to allocate a significant percent­age of their income to it. In the case of young people, the high cost of housing, be it rented or owned, contributes to keeping them in the parental home for longer.

The financial sacrifice households had to make to purchase a home in 2017 was less than that required during the period of upward price pressure in the property market, when prices reached their highest levels. However, an average family (with an average income) would still need at least six years to be able to purchase an ordinary home at current prices, presup­posing that they allocated all their annual disposable income to this (which no-one can do, but this hypothe­sis is used to construct the indicator). This figure is two years more than the four experts regard as a prudent financial sacrifice. The difficulty of accessing housing is much greater for households in the lowest income distribution bracket (first quintile): these families on modest incomes would take over 16 years to purchase a home, even if they were to allocate all their dispos­able income to this.

The rental market offers an alternative to purchasing a home and many families opted for this following the start of the financial crisis, when it became more diffi­cult to get loans. However, home rental costs have shot up in recent years, making access to housing even more difficult. Data published by real estate portals such as Idealista show that prices rose by 18.4% in 2017.

In reality, experts advise that no more than 30% of monthly income should be allocated to purchasing or renting a home. Figures show, however, that spending on housing absorbs a higher percentage than this of many families’ disposable income: over a fifth of the Spanish population live in households overburdened by the cost of their housing, which exceeds more than 30% of their income. And almost half of the popula­tion states that payments associated with their home represent a heavy financial burden.

In addition to the ability to access a home, it is essential that this home should be decent. In other words, it should meet the minimum conditions for people to be able to live satisfactorily in it. The basic sanitation facilities in the home – bath or shower and WC – are to be found in virtually all Spanish homes. Consequently, this basic need is by and large met.

In contrast, far more people are affected by housing­related problems to do with structural shortcomings or inadequate maintenance (such as damp and leaks or the lack of natural light). Though overcrowding is less widespread, it should be noted that approximately 5% of the population suffer from this, as they live in homes that do not have the number of bedrooms required to provide sufficient living space and privacy for the members of the household. In a third of these cases, overcrowding goes hand in hand with another housing-related problem, meaning that, according to the European definition, they suffer severe housing deprivation in this respect.

Even though the indicators on housing conditions showed improvements prior to the financial crisis (and even in some cases during the early part of the crisis), there have been no observable advances in recent years. One possible reason is that some of the problems require investment, the effects of which can only be perceived in the medium term.

Energy poverty means that households lack the financial resources needed to meet their domestic energy needs (such as gas, electricity or heating) due to their low income, the cost of utility supplies or their home’s poor energy efficiency. In Spain, this problem has worsened since the start of the financial crisis, as energy prices rose sharply while at the same time many people lost their jobs and family incomes fell. Even though this situation has improved in recent years, late utility bill payments, disproportionate spending on energy and insufficient income (lower than the IPREM, an income indicator used for means-testing purposes) after paying domestic gas and electricity bills are more common today than they were in the years prior to the start of the financial crisis.

Late payment of utility bills is particularly serious because it can lead to supplies being cut off, an undesirable situation from a social point of view. Despite measures put in place in recent years to combat energy poverty, 2% of the population had to do without some source of energy due to financial problems in 2016 according to the Living Conditions Survey (LCS).