Business · Economy · 18 hrs ago
Economist says slow land approvals limit Spain’s housing construction
Economist Marc Vidal has argued that Spain is not building enough homes to meet demand.
He says about 100,000 homes are built each year, while around 250,000 new households are formed.
In his view, one major obstacle is the lack of land ready for construction, since making land developable can take 8 to 15 years.
Vidal also points to building permits that can take up to a year in Madrid and Barcelona, higher development taxes and a shortage of skilled workers.
He says rent freezes and indefinite contracts protect existing tenants but do not help people searching for a home.
Spain’s public housing makes up 2% to 3% of all homes, compared with an 8% European average, according to Vidal.
He argues that rent regulation does not remove the housing shortage, and says many of Spain’s vacant homes are in places with little demand.
Economist Marc Vidal says slow land approvals are limiting Spain’s home construction.
Turning land into urbanisable land can take between eight and 15 years, he says.
Spain builds about 100,000 homes a year while around 250,000 households are formed.
Building permits in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona can take up to 12 months.
Vidal also points to construction worker shortages and a small public housing stock.
- Who
- Economist and investor Marc Vidal.
- What
- He says a lack of ready-to-build land and slow approvals limit home construction in Spain.
- When
- Not stated
- Where
- Spain, with Madrid and Barcelona cited as examples of cities where building permits take up to 12 months.
- Why
- Vidal says preparing land for development can take between eight and 15 years, alongside other constraints on construction.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
We are not building more housing in our country because there is no ready-to-build land, and turning it into urbanisable land can take between 8 and 15 years.
Regulating the price of scarcity does not eliminate scarcity, it only changes how that scarcity is distributed.
This story does not have a timeline yet.
- Homes built each year
- About 100,000
- Households formed each year
- Around 250,000
- Land conversion time
- Between 8 and 15 years
- Building permit wait
- Up to 12 months in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona
- Construction worker shortage
- 700,000 workers since 2008
Sources
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