Paying the rent eats up half the salary of tenants in Malaga

This is, together with the Balearic Islands, the province with the highest proportion of income being spent on housing

Nuria Triguero

Wednesday, 18 October 2023, 18:18

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Personal finance experts do not recommend spending more than 30% of the household income on paying the rent or a mortgage. But Malaga province, together with the Balearic Islands, has the highest rental expenditure in the country, with 49% of the average income going on paying the rent. That is according to a study carried out by the real estate portal Idealista, analysing the annual share of the average net household income that goes towards paying rent for a typical two-bedroom home. This rate has skyrocketed in the last year due to the escalation of property rental prices in the province: in September 2022 the average monthly spend on rent was 38% - a rise of 11% in just twelve months.

After Malaga and the Balearic Islands, the provinces that require the greatest proportion of average income to rent a home are Barcelona (41%), Alicante (35%) and Las Palmas (35%). At the other extreme are Teruel (16%), Palencia (17%), Ciudad Real, Lugo, Zamora and Huesca (19% in all four cases). The Spanish average is 31%.

Figures for cities show that Malaga is the fourth in the national ranking, with 37% (up 6% in the last year) of income going towards rent, following Barcelona (43%), Palma (42%) and Valencia (39%). After Malaga come Alicante (35%), Madrid (33%), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (30%), Bilbao (30%) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (30%).

In the case of home owners, the stress ratio is calculated as the annual share of net household income that goes towards paying a typical mortgage in terms of duration and interest rate. In Spain, on average, it stands at 21% of household income. This percentage has increased by four per cent compared to September 2022. Four Spanish cities have exceeded the 30% expenditure ratio recommended by experts for the first time. These are Palma (47%), San Sebastian (38%), Malaga (33%) and Barcelona (32%). The lowest rate is seen in Jaén (11%), Lleida (12%), Ciudad Real, Teruel, Palencia and Murcia (13%).

The increase in the proportion of average income needed to pay a mortgage has been particularly high in Malaga city, up 11% in the last year. Only Palma has registered a greater increase (of 18%).

If the analysis of mortgage payments is carried out by province, Malaga is in second position in the national ranking with 43% of the average income per household. The first is the Balearic Islands, with 45%, followed by Santa Cruz de Tenerife (34%), Alicante (28%), Las Palmas (25%), Madrid (24%) and Cadiz (23%).

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