Housing In Spain Research Articles

A Brief History of Social Housing in Spain: Residential Architecture and Housing Policies in the 19th and 20th Centuries

A Brief History of Social Housing in Spain: Residential Architecture and Housing Policies in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Alternative Models of Access to and Production of Housing in Spain: The Bottom-up Processes

Alternative Models of Access to and Production of Housing in Spain: The Bottom-up Processes

Social housing in Spain: obsolescence and intervention strategies

Social housing in Spain has its origin in the first Cheap Houses Law that was promulgated in 1911, trying to provide a solution to a housing need for the working class who flocked to the cities in waves of migration from rural areas. Since then, legislative initiatives have been taking place to mitigate the housing problem. Each one of them was contributing elements that presumably contributed to the hygiene and habitability of the house without forgetting the economic conditions. At the moment, in Spain there is a large real estate park inherited from these initiatives. In many cases, these are neighborhoods that currently show notable energy and social vulnerability. Aware of the need to adapt these homes to the regulatory requirements related to energy efficiency, comfort and the physical and technical characteristics of the construction, the Research Centers are developing multiple investigations aimed at favoring the adaptability of homes and improving the quality of life of its inhabitants. This article takes a tour of the evolution that social housing has had during the 20th century in Spain and the current state of research aimed at adapting it to the new energy, habitability and sustainability requirements.

Housing policy in Spain between 1939 and 1976

The research focuses on the study of public housing built in response to the urgent housing needs in Europe throughout the 20th century. These developments share many of the characteristics of their European counterparts. The Spanish case presents certain peculiarities in its development. The research aims to analyse the context -social, economic and political- that conditioned the massive construction of housing in Spain between 1939 and 1976. An analysis is made of the approved urban planning legislation, housing regulation and the identification of the responsible bodies.

A Comparison of the System of Public Housing in Hong Kong with the System of Public Housing in Spain

A Comparison of the System of Public Housing in Hong Kong with the System of Public Housing in Spain

Analysis of thermal insulation in social housing in Spain (1939–1989) and its possible adaptation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

<abstract> <p>The construction of protected housing in Spain during the period analysed (1939–1989) reached its maximum between 1950–1980 with the construction of almost three million homes per year. The analysis of the homes built for railroad workers from this housing stock is distinct for four main reasons: it is a housing stock with a representative number of homes in relation to the total of social housing built in Spain, which is still mostly in use and covers all the typologies used in the country and which is dispersed throughout it. Thus, for the present analysis, there is a sample that is adequately representative of the whole stock of social housing constructed in Spain, this sample enables a comparative global analysis that can be extrapolated to the remaining stock. The objective of this study is to analyse the energy efficiency of homes through the thermal analysis of the envelope, as well as to acknowledge the specific constructive limitations of these homes and if possible, their rehabilitation that guarantees compliance with the required standards regarding sustainability and energy efficiency set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established in the 2030 Agenda. This is a crucial goal to achieve, as the Spanish building stock currently consumes 30% of the total energy consumed, in addition to the socioeconomic profile and the potential for energy poverty, there is a portion of social housing with a precarious construction lacking the heating facilities, which is required due to the weather, with a significant potential for savings and the incorporation of renewable energies.</p> </abstract>

State-Led Actions Reigniting the Financialization of Housing in Spain

ABSTRACT Since the 2008 economic recession, state intervention in the real estate sector has strengthened. This article explains how housing financialization was reignited in Spain following key policy reforms in 2013. We argue that Spanish authorities managed to strategically recreate a finance-friendly environment to attract global investors. They combined financial policies, other deregulatory reforms and neoliberal measures in a coordinated manner we call a policy package. Our analysis provides evidence of the legal and political arrangements at various state levels that effectively facilitated the reanimation of a new cycle of housing financialization which caused rising inflation in prices and distress in tenants’ rights. This approach contributes to the understanding of how state-led actions foster a spatial fix to overcome financial crises by granting global speculative funds extraordinary benefits. In addition, we show how this process occurred with poor democratic accountability and was also confronted by various forms of social contestation.

The politics of assetization: from devices of calculation to devices of obligation

ABSTRACT This article develops a new theoretical perspective on the politics of financialization with housing as its specific case. The argument uses the recent debate on assets and assetization in the Social Studies of Finance as a starting point. In this debate, the asset is introduced vis-à-vis the commodity as a fruitful analytical category. The article argues that the suggested shift from the commodity to the asset allows for a novel understanding of the politics of financialization if it is accompanied by a parallel shift from ‘devices of calculation’ to what is here termed ‘devices of obligation’. Devices of obligation address the politics that produce the durability that the asset requires. Accounting for such politics of obligation offers a nuanced comprehension of the material, infrastructural, legal, and moral forms of binding time that are crucial for financialized revenues. In order to develop this theoretical framework, the article links insights from the Social Studies of Finance to the classical sociological theory of obligation in the work of Marcel Mauss. This allows a more granular understanding of the political dimension of financialization beyond the state. The analytical viability of this theoretical perspective is demonstrated through a case-study of the processes of the financialization of housing in Spain shortly before the financial crisis of 2008.

When construction was linear. Analysis of the energy sustainability of social housing in Spain (1939-1989)

<p>Building circularly means building with future reuse in mind. Since Pearce and Turner (1995) put forward their ideas on the circular economy, this approach has gained prominence in other disciplines, such as architecture. (McDonough y Braungart, 2005). However, until very recent times architecture has been "linear" if we understand this as the opposite of the aim of reuse: the initial purpose was disconnected from the final one. Thus, to have elements of analysis and comparison, in this text we will approach the way of building in Spain in the 20th century. We will focus on the case of railway social housing, which had an abundant production (around 20,000 dwellings) in the period 1939-1989, within the framework of the existing housing legislation at that time in which there was no purpose of reuse, as the context and needs were different. However, these are dwellings that are still in use where the principles of circular architecture are applied, in this case to improve and adapt to regulations regarding energy saving with the intention of making this continuity of use more sustainable.</p><p>The article is based on the analysis of the thermal envelope carried out based on the projects available, as well as the study and application of the regulations on thermal insulation in the period under study, which specifically did not exist until the 1979 basic standard on thermal conditions (NBE-CT-79). The aim is to simulate, after the study carried out and after the recent update of the basic document on energy saving, (CTE DB-HE 2019) what renovation actions are necessary in these dwellings to ensure compliance with the new and rigorous standards set with the aim of reconciling these dwellings, which are still in use and were built under criteria of minimum cost, with the lowest energy consumption and therefore with greater energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.</p>

Players, interests and public policies in relation to tourist rental housing in Spain (2010-2019). Complexity and multiple conflicts

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the general scenario resulting from the emergence and expansion of tourist rental housing in Spain during the period 2010-2019.
 Design/methodology/approach: The approach adopted is qualitative and focusses on identifying the range of players involved in the phenomenon and their varying interests; it also analyses the differing roles played by public authorities through the adoption of regulatory tools and the responses to these.
 Results: This paper shows the existence of a diversity of positions among the various players involved in the phenomenon, as well as divergent responses from public authorities to their demands. This reveals the existence of a complex, heterogeneous scenario characterized by tension between the players; a situation that has not been satisfactorily resolved by the regulatory tools adopted, inthe light of the conflicts observed.
 Originality/significance: The main significance of the work lies in its contribution to the general understanding of the phenomenon of dwellings for tourist use in Spain from a broad, nationwideperspective, which seeks to correct the usual local and partial approaches.
 Limitations of the research: The timescale of the study, the decade 2010-2019, delimits the theoretical framework, the analyses carried out and the conclusions obtained to this period.

Players, interests and public policies in relation to tourist rental housing in Spain (2010-2019). Complexity and multiple conflicts

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the general scenario resulting from the emergence and expansion of tourist rental housing in Spain during the period 2010-2019. Design/methodology/approach: The approach adopted is qualitative and focusses on identifying the range of players involved in the phenomenon and their varying interests; it also analyses the differing roles played by public authorities through the adoption of regulatory tools and the responses to these. Results: This paper shows the existence of a diversity of positions among the various players involved in the phenomenon, as well as divergent responses from public authorities to their demands. This reveals the existence of a complex, heterogeneous scenario characterized by tension between the players; a situation that has not been satisfactorily resolved by the regulatory tools adopted, inthe light of the conflicts observed. Originality/significance: The main significance of the work lies in its contribution to the general understanding of the phenomenon of dwellings for tourist use in Spain from a broad, nationwideperspective, which seeks to correct the usual local and partial approaches. Limitations of the research: The timescale of the study, the decade 2010-2019, delimits the theoretical framework, the analyses carried out and the conclusions obtained to this period.

Richard Neutra in Spain: Consumerism, Competition, and U.S. Air Force Housing

During the mid-twentieth century, transatlantic exchanges between architects often occurred in the context of ColdWar politics. While many of these exchanges involved overt manifestations of state-sponsored ideologies, others, such as Richard Neutra’s participation in the 1956 competition to design U.S. Air Force housing in Spain, demonstrated the personal ambitions of the architects involved more than they did any government agendas. Neutra’s approach to the competition, in which he collaborated with Spanish architects, reveals his predisposition to commodify his work for an international market; in turn, the Spaniards were eager to appropriate and consumeNeutra’s ideas. In Richard Neutra in Spain: Consumerism, Competition, and U.S. Air Force Housing, Brett Tippey analyzes the politics surrounding the competition, the nature of the collaborative relationship between Neutra and the Spaniards, the details of the (unbuilt) designs, and the enduring impact ofNeutra’s intervention on Spanish architecture. The resources for this study include Neutra’s published texts, Spanish professional journals, and the Richard and Dion Neutra Papers (UCLA), as well as the original dossier Neutra submitted to the competition jury.

The role of the democratic organization in the La borda housing cooperative in Spain

Increases in housing prices, property speculation and the inability of many residents to pay their mortgage or rent have made housing a key issue of concern for Spaniards. In view of this situation, several grassroots initiatives have emerged in the last decade demanding the right to decent housing. Among them is La Borda, the first Grant of Use housing cooperative built on public land for subsidized housing in Spain. Taking as a reference several successful cooperative experiences, a group of citizens self-organized in 2014 to generate a housing project that escaped the free market dynamics of Barcelona. Specifically, this paper provides a qualitative analysis of how La Borda's democratic organization has operated as a driver in the construction of a collective property building, which has enabled access to affordable and stable housing for around 60 people. This organization, based on the direct participation of cooperative members in decision making and management, has provided a series of benefits, foremost among them: 1) capability building, 2) the adoption of leadership roles, and 3) the emergence of a sense of belonging.

El sector inmobiliario en España. Análisis evolutivo, problemas actuales y dificultades para su desarrollo

En este artículo, primero analizamos el stock de viviendas en España (nuevas y de segunda mano). Resumimos la evolución del modelo político de la vivienda en España, destacando las diferencias en sus etapas principales e indagando sobre las causas que han contribuido al excedente de vivienda actual. A continuación, analizamos los diferentes aspectos que explican por qué el mercado de la vivienda parece letárgico y probablemente problemático (evolución de la población y número de hogares, percepción sobre la compra de propiedades residenciales, etc.). Profundizamos en el análisis de la información sobre la evolución histórica del parque de viviendas y los cambios en los patrones de uso de la vivienda a través de los datos proporcionados por el Ministerio de Fomento y el Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). La compleja realidad actual del mercado de la vivienda en España no es una casualidad, sino más bien el resultado de un largo período (más de medio siglo) de políticas que apoyan el aumento de la construcción de viviendas. La población menguante y cada vez más envejecida de España pondrá en peligro la creación neta de hogares y la demanda de vivienda. Dada la situación global del mercado de la vivienda en España, creemos que estamos asistiendo al final de un ciclo prolongado de construcción de viviendas favorecido por políticas de vivienda particulares.

The Political Economy of Rental Housing in Spain: The Dialectics of Exploitation(s) and Regulations

ABSTRACT This paper analyses how the exploitation of tenants in Spain is boosting income for banks, hedge funds and pension funds. It does so by tracing the origins of the money invested in a Tres Cantos housing project in Madrid. The paper makes the following claims: First, the exploitation taking place in households -referred in this paper as secondary- is increasingly related to worker exploitation, and thus this particular type of exploitation is increasingly relevant to the dynamics of capital accumulation. Second, the key role of secondary exploitation of tenants in the revenue-making strategies of pension funds, hedge funds and banks is augmented and mediated by a myriad of regulations being implemented at the national and supranational scales. Theoretically, the paper contests the Marxian claim that household exploitation is ‘secondary’ to the exploitation taking place in the production process.

The Role of Regulations in the Spanish Housing Dispossession Crisis: Towards Dispossession by Regulations?

AbstractThis paper explores the role of regulations and economic policies implemented in post‐crisis Spain in boosting a housing dispossession crisis. The article first claims that the post‐2008 crisis has implied shifts in the mechanisms of rent extraction from housing in Spain. Second, it is argued that those shifts in rent extraction have been fuelled by the post‐crisis economic policies and regulatory frameworks implemented since 2008. Third, it is claimed that dispossession has been a central strategy used by banks to cope with the new post‐crisis regulatory framework. The article thus analyses the different strategies carried out by banks and hedge funds to enforce foreclosures and other dispossession strategies since 2008. Furthermore, it explores the different motivations and ideologies that led to the roll out of different banking regulations and the variegated impacts that these regulations have had on Spanish bank and hedge fund strategies vis‐à‐vis housing dispossession.

Thermal comfort and indoor air quality in low-income housing in Spain: The influence of airtightness and occupant behaviour

Thermal comfort and Indoor air quality (IAQ) in residential buildings with different degrees of airtightness was studied in two climates in Spain. Behaviour was compared in the areas occupied by day and by night. The IAQ of the buildings studied, erected before energy efficiency regulations were in place (1939–79) and lacking mechanical ventilation, was compared to their airtightness. The rationale for that approach was that under such circumstances air change depends on uncontrolled natural ventilation (=opening windows) and consequently on the outdoor temperature. Relative humidity was also taken into consideration, given the condensation that may be induced where ventilation is insufficient. In winter in both climates, the CO2 levels were over 1200 ppm, with means on the order of 1900 ppm in Madrid and 1400 ppm in Seville and higher at night than during the day. Infiltration-mediated air changes/hour appeared to be insufficient to maintain the house under healthy conditions and the risk of surface condensation is higher in the most airtight dwellings.

Resistance as resilience: A comparative analysis of state-community conflicts around self-built housing in Spain, Senegal and Argentina

Since the 2007/08 financial crisis and during the ensuing period of austerity, government agencies and ‘conventional’ markets have shown little interest in meeting low-income housing demand. Land and housing are increasingly commodified and financialised, and ‘formal’ access to housing has become unaffordable to ever larger sectors of the population. Those excluded from formal systems continue to provide themselves with land and housing via alternative means, as has been documented for over five decades. This phenomenon has intensified in some places and reappeared in others. Despite international agreements and exhortations to recognise the urban poor's efforts to house themselves, which now also promote the notion of urban and community resilience, government agencies continue to criminalise and quash such initiatives, thus contributing to inequality.This paper aims to examine and illustrate the type of bottom-up housing process and official response that is taking place around the wold, with a focus on the role of two key actors: state and community. It adopts a transformative interpretation of urban resilience based on making the concept of resistance central to this, in order to reflect the realities and priorities of low-income and vulnerable settlements. This ‘resistance as resilience’ is explored in three self-built settlements by examining Giddens's structuring types of relation: allocative structures, authoritative structures and systems of meaning. These case studies are located in national contexts with different income levels: Las Sabinas in Spain (recent settlement in a high-income country); Guinaw Rails Nord in Senegal (medium-term settlement in a low-income country), Villa 31 in Argentina (long-standing settlement in a middle-income country). The case studies show how communities in all three cases have been the most active and effective in creating settlements that meet their needs in an integrated way, while government agencies have implemented policies of exclusion and abandonment. The case studies highlight that communities do not operate on a level playing field, but their actions can bring about changes in the types of relation identified by Giddens. So-called ‘informality’ thus becomes a political question, related to the position of low-income communities within their political economy and social structure, and their relationship with power structures.

The Loan to Value Ratio for Housing in Spain Over the Period 2004-2016

The ratio between the amount of mortgage loans and the value of housing (the loan to value ratio) is a useful indicator for studying the financial situation of households. Two main price indicators are used to measure loan to value ratios for housing in Spain at the time of purchase: the transaction price recorded at the Property Registry and the appraisal value. Having generated a sample in which both price indicators refer to the same set of housing, the median loan to value ratio between 2004 and 2007 is found to stand between 70%, when the appraisal value is used, and 107%, when the transaction price is used. The difference between these two ratios narrowed from 2010, with the loan to value ratio using the appraisal value remaining at around 70%, while the ratio based on the transaction value fell to 80%. The Spanish Survey of Household Finances (EFF), conducted by the Banco de Espana, is an alternative data source, allowing a loan to value ratio to be obtained directly from households’ responses. This ratio, based on EFF data, has evolved in a similar way to the one derived from the transaction prices recorded at the Property Registry.

Tax incentives to modernize the energy efficiency of the housing in Spain

This paper analyzes the tax incentives and aids adopted in the taxes and environmental policies to improve the energy efficiency of Spanish households. The established environmental policy presents advances although with incipient results, since the energy efficiency of the houses still plays a secondary role. In the area of taxes, no tax incentives have been effective in reducing the investment in improvements in the energy efficiency of homes, especially in those of old construction. Our conclusions indicate the convenience of promoting the energy efficiency of homes through the fiscal route. In this sense, it proposes incorporating an incentive to the Personal Income Tax linked to improved energy rating of housing. Also, it raises the improvements in the current regulations on tax benefits on the Real Estate Tax and on the Tax on Building, Installations and Infrastructural Work. These are two of the main features of this paper.