Since the property bubble burst in Spain, there are currently hundreds of thousands of homes lying empty across Madrid. Most are empty because the banks repossessed them when their former owners defaulted on their mortgage payments. Official figures suggest around 15k families were evicted in 2012 alone. But there is a whole sub-culture of people taking advantage of other peoples’ misery by cashing in on the empty dwellings.
Black Market Landlords
Empty homes are targeted by opportunistic landlords and sub-let to desperate tenants seeking a cheap roof over their head. Once a property is empty, someone comes along and breaks in. The property is then advertised ‘to let’ for a few hundred Euros per month and a tenant moves in. It is even possible to ‘buy’ a property if you have around 2k Euros spare, although most people can’t afford to do this.
Lack of Affordable Housing
Affordable housing in Madrid is in very short supply. With so many families facing eviction as a result of the financial crises, there is a massive waiting list for government-subsidised homes. Not surprisingly, immigrants and desperate families are turning to black market landlords to fill the gap.
Because it can take up to two years for the banks to obtain an eviction notice, tenants know they won’t need to move out for quite a while. Neighbourhood associations are holding the banks responsible for the housing crisis—instead of selling at a knockdown price, the banks are holding on to the properties until the market recovers. And in the meantime, local communities are suffering.
