Land of Perpetual Owners: Spain with the highest percentage of young mortgages in Europe.

The problem of access to housing is one of the most pressing in Spain's recent history. Some data illustrate this phenomenon: 64% of young people aged between 18 and 34 still live with their parents, 10% higher than the European average.

The average age of leaving parental care in Spain is 29.5 years, compared to the European average of 26.2 years and 23.6 years in France. On the face of it, Spain is not a place for young people. But for borrowers, it is.

Another statistic: what do the few Spaniards under 35 who leave their parents' housing 'nest' do? Despite the recent controversy in our society about rent, which is the main phenomenon in the twothe largest cities in the country, they prefer to buy. And, consequently, mortgages. This OECD study on access to housing in developed countries identifies this trend: 50% of young Spaniards living alone take out a mortgage. In other words, they buy an apartment. This is the highest rate in Europe. On the other hand, Greece, Germany, Slovenia, Austria and Denmark have a percentage of mortgage borrowers below 20%.

We are still buying. Spain is a country of homeowners. The homeownership rate here exceeds data from other Western European countries. Recent data from the OECD shows that around 80% of the country's population are property owners or borrowers. This number is above the average for the entire organization (68%), Germany (44%), France (61%), Austria (48%) andUK (65%), among others. Spain is closer to Eastern European countries (Slovakia, Hungary, Poland), where a huge number of owners inherited from the Soviet period rather than renting.

This phenomenon is not accidental. First, it has to do with historical traditions.

It has always been so. Already in 2003, a study commissioned by the Spanish Center for Sociological Research explained that "Spanish housing policy is not neutral with respect to supporting different forms of home ownership" and that "there is a clear preference for home ownership through tax incentives for home purchase." This logic continues and is reinforced by institutions. What does Santander Bank do when it wants to facilitate the emancipation of young people? It offers mortgages at 95% per annum. This logic is applied by all sectors of the nationaleconomics.

In 2021, Alfa Inmobiliaria conducted a study to find out how many young people apply for mortgages and found that they make up just 15% of buyers, up from 23% in 2008. The story is, "Society considers it a common problem that young people don't have the support to start their life project and take their destiny into their own hands." That is, the problem is not about coming out on their own, but access to their own housing. If this is not available, the "life project" is compromised. This dynamic is not observed in other countries, as we have already noted.

In Spain, we tend to think that "access to housing" means "access to purchase". As we have already seen, this is quite natural: for 95% of the Spanish middle classthe most common form of wealth is real estate inheritance. The percentage of young people under 30 years old living in their own apartments rented from their parents is 18% according to the National Statistical Institute of Spain. In Spain, property is a guarantee.