The cost of access to free housing in 2020: a young worker between the ages of 18 and 34 spent more than half of his net monthly salary to pay the first month of the mortgage or rental income

• The Basque Youth Observatory analyses "the cost of residential emancipation in Euskadi, 2020"
• The cost of access to free home ownership, in 2020, was 58.7% and for rent 54.7%
• Sheltered housing presents more affordable access costs for salaried youth
• The wage inequalities between young men and women imply greater difficulties for young women to emancipate on their own

 Vitoria-Gasteiz, 2021 XII 19

The cost of access to free home ownership, or percentage of the monthly net salary that a salaried person between 18 and 34 years of age should allocate to pay the first month of the mortgage for the purchase of a home in the free market, it was 58.7% in 2020.

 The cost of access to free rental housing, or percentage of the monthly net salary that a young salaried person should allocate to the payment of rental income, was 54.7% that same year. These figures are above the recommended maximum debt limit, which is usually set at 30% of salary.

 The Basque Youth Observatory, of the Department of Equality, Justice and Social Policies of the Basque Government, has prepared the report "The cost of residential emancipation in the Basque Country 2020", which analyses how much it costs, theoretically, to young salaried people, between 18 and 34 years of age, emancipate on their own, either by buying or renting the home.

 For this, the Basque Youth Observatory calculates on twelve indicators that reflect the theoretical cost of access to free housing and protected housing, both in property and in rent. It is a theoretical cost because it´s based on the average prices of homes for sale or rent, on the average salaries of youth and on the standard conditions of mortgage loans -in the case of opting for the purchase-, ignoring the individual casuistry.

 Sheltered housing presents more afforable access costs for salaried youth. In 2020, buying subsidised housing on their own implied spending 28.9% of the net monthly salary on the mortgage payment, while renting a subsidised flat was more affordable as only 27.2% of the net salary would have to be dedicated to the monthly rental payment.  However, the analysis by groups shows substantial differences: the youth of Gipuzkoa are the ones who must face the highest costs if they access the free market, especially to buy, due to the higher shortage of free housing in that Territory.

 As age increases, so do wages and, therefore, the cost of access is lower, whether you choose to buy or rent. But the free market also places people between the ages of 30 and 34 in a situation of over-indebtedness to pay for housing.  Salary inequalities between young men and young women imply greater difficulties in solitary emancipation for women.