The Pandemic is Forcing More People to Flatshare

THE PANDEMIC is forcing more people to flatshare, with Malaga being one of the cities where this has grown the most.

This pandemic year has seen a growth in people flat-sharing, presumably to cut down costs. According to a study published by Idealista, Malaga is one of the ten Spanish cities where the supply of shared flats has grown the most, by a huge 89 per cent. On average, the country as a whole has seen an increase of 93 per cent.

The report has been prepared by Idealista and is based on the room offers published on the portal in March this year, comparing those in the same month of 2020, when the first state of alarm for the coronavirus was announced.

The city that has seen the largest growth in flatshares is Madrid, with an increase of 180 per cent in the last twelve months, followed by Murcia (149 per cent), Ourense (144 per cent), Vitoria-Gasteiz (134 per cent), Tarragona (120 per cent), Seville (116 per cent) and Malaga (89 per cent).

In addition to this, Idealistas offer of rooms in shared apartments has also grown across cities in Spain. Almost two out of every three rooms in shared flats located in provincial capitals are concentrated in the cities of Madrid (37.8% per cent) and Barcelona (23.8 per cent).

The Idealista study also looks at how prices have changed after a year of pandemic. In Malaga capital, a room costs on average 7 per cent less than twelve months ago, however, it is not one of the cities in which the price has fallen the most. The report reflects the price has gone from €300 per month in March 2020 to €280 in 2021. Despite this drop of 7 per cent, Malaga is the most expensive along with Cádiz and Seville.

A EWN reader who moved from the UK to Spain last year said: “I had been searching for a small property of my own to rent, but due to the pandemic and an increase in rooms available to rent, I now have a room in a shared apartment where I live with two other people. It isn’t ideal or what I had planned but it is what I will have to do for the time being.”

Source: Malaga Hoy