EU targets underused homes of elderly in Spain

55% of Spaniards live in homes too large for their needs

Diego is 73 and has no intention of moving. He lives in a renovated home within a Provivienda program and sums it up with one phrase: "There's no place like home." His case, multiplied by millions of households, is what has brought into focus the European Union's first Affordable Housing Plan, presented by Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jorgensen. Brussels' diagnosis allows for no half-measures: not a single square meter of the current real estate stock should go to waste.

Translated into figures, Spain enters this plan with an uncomfortable picture. 55% of the population lives in homes considered too large for their household needs, compared to the 33% community average. Among those over 65, the proportion exceeds 75%, well above the 47% European average. Lots of space, few occupants, and an administration that doesn't know where to place those seeking shelter.

What the EU affordable housing plan proposes

The European Commission maintains that 650,000 more homes per year are needed during the next decade to close the supply deficit, an effort estimated at around 150 billion euros. And not everything involves new construction. The text speaks of reuse, converting commercial premises for residential use, renovating properties to return them to the market, and, above all, managing empty homes, which already represent 20% of the European stock.

The Spanish part of the problem is densification. There is excess space in some areas and shortages in others, and the bureaucracy hindering construction and renovation has become the declared enemy of the plan. The paradox is that the stock is not entirely empty: it is half occupied, often by a single elderly person in apartments designed for an entire family.

Why the elderly cling to their homes

Because they find identity, security, and belonging there, and because 88% of people over 65 living in their own homes prefer to receive care there rather than in a residence. The study "A Key to Our Future: Housing and Ageing in Community", by Provivienda, puts numbers to that sentiment and also to its bitter side: lack of accessibility, outdated construction, and scarce services. Furthermore, 10.7% of households of people over 65 are left without resources after paying costs for their owned property.

Living longer does not equate to living better. Spain boasts a life expectancy of 84 years, above the EU's 81.3. Healthy life expectancy, however, stood at 62 years in 2023, below the European average and without recovering pre-pandemic levels. 10.5% of the elderly report severe limitations and 34.7% report some type of limitation. Among those over 85, one in four considers themselves severely limited.

From this arises the conflict: the home provides identity and security, but can also become a trap. Housing policies, the report points out, are decisive in maintaining autonomy and avoiding institutionalization. For many older people, moving to a collective facility is not an option: they perceive it as losing control of their lives.

The friction point: who ends up occupying those homes

Here the debate stops being technical. Some argue that mobilizing the underused stock is the fastest way to house newcomers, while others antiestéticar the plan will end up being a mechanism to place immigrants in the homes of the elderly. The discussion on housing drifts, in no small part, toward immigration, and positions harden on both sides.

It is not just about building: it is about reallocating. The plan mentions reuse, converting commercial premises into housing, renovating properties to return them to the market, and managing empty or underused homes. Some speculate that the route will end up being incentives, subsidies for room rentals, and public guarantees, while others respond that any pressure on private assets always starts the same way.

Comparisons also circulate regarding the square meters of public officials versus those of any ordinary neighbor, to underline that large homes are not only held by retirees. The detail of those numbers warrants a separate discussion.

This is not a new discussion. A century ago, the promise of sharing space ended in flats shared by several families and forced common services. The difference, according to those speculating about the plan, is that now we talk about incentives, subsidies for room rentals, and public guarantees, not expropriations. For now.

The data that doesn't fit remains: Spain lives on average 84 years, but only 62 without limitations. The real estate stock has the missing space. What it lacks is the way to move it without anyone losing their home along the way.