Residential opportunities and emancipation strategies in Spain

Abstract

Different events in the life course of individuals are normally associated with specific residential choices. In particular, this applies to the process of household formation which, from the residential perspective, involves moving from the parental house to another dwelling. Emancipation evidences the preferences of young people for a new habitat and is usually conditioned by two sets of variables: on the one hand, labour conditions (i.e. a permanent job, the amount of salary, etc.) and, on the other, the residential opportunities offered by the current market circumstances. Certainly, a secure occupation in the labour market facilitates the affordability of rent or mortgage payments. Besides, the better the position is, the broader the range of housing opportunities. However, the housing market situation and, therefore, the existence or not of available/affordable residential opportunities for new households might influence delays or earlier moves in the process of emancipation. This article will focus on the impact of a certain residential landscape dominated by owneroccupation and high rents and prices, the Spanish housing market, in the process of emancipation and residential decisions of young households. The hypothesis to be tested in this particular context refers to the effects of how scarce affordable residential opportunities have affected the process of young people emancipation. In particular, the recent growth of housing prices and rents together with the insufficient renting opportunities in the market will be analysed under the light of housing careers’ literature: the residential choice of young people is therefore understood as a combination of housing preferences of population and constraints imposed by the market. Finally, given the current deceleration of the Spanish housing market (i.e. less construction and lower housing prices growth rate) and the changing macroeconomic landscape, especially the hardening of the financial conditions, some hints about those recently emancipated will be offered.