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An Incredible 3.4 Million Properties Sitting Empty In Spain Spain News

There are now some 4 million homeless people within the EU, and if you think that's shocking, you will be even more stunned to know that they could quite easily be homed in one of the 11 million properties that currently lie empty within the European Union!

Of all the European nations, Spain is the biggest culprit with around 3.4 million empty properties currently unoccupied or 14% of all Spanish properties.

Spain has become the leader in this field is due to the large demand from UK and German investors looking to purchase holiday homes in the sun during the boom years between 2000-2008. Up until the financial crisis in 2008, Spanish developers were erecting around 800,000 properties each year, many of which now lie empty. The Spanish government also believe that there are around 500,000 part-built properties that have been completely abandoned by construction companies in the country.

High unemployment, which currently stands at around 6 million, is also a factor, with many people unable to pay their mortgage resulting in the repossession of their homes. Many believe that the banks, who hold the keys to many of these properties are also compounding the issue due to their reluctance to sell the properties at a discounted price.

Understandably, campaigners are up in arms as they rightly believe that by making these properties available, the problem of homelessness within the EU could be solved.

"It's incredible. It's a massive number," said David Ireland, chief executive of the Empty Homes charity, which campaigns for vacant homes to be made available for those who need housing. "It will be shocking to ordinary people".

"Homes are built for people to live in, if they're not being lived in then something has gone seriously wrong with the housing market."

But it's not just Spain which has a glut of empty properties. There are a number of other European countries which also have a huge oversupply including:

  • Italy 2.2-2.7 million
  • France 2.4 million
  • Germany 1.8 million
  • Portugal 735,000
  • UK 700,000
  • Ireland 400,000

There can be no doubt, that something desperately needs to be done to alleviate the problem of homelessness within the EU. A problem which campaigners feel will only get worse! For further information, please see the report from the Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/23/europe-11m-empty-properties-enough-house-homeless-continent-twice