Can you live in Valencia with a monthly salary of 1,500 euros net? The chosen salary is lower than that indicated by the National Institute of Statistics, INE or other sources such as the consulting firm Adecco, which is 1,747 euros per month, but it is closer to reality according to CC.OO sources. and U.G.T. and it is higher than the minimum interprofessional salary, which is 1,134 euros. In any case, the chosen figure serves to establish a consultation between experts, neighborhood representatives and users, and assess whether a person can live in Valencia with that amount (a question that could be extended to other Valencian cities). “It is impossible if you do not have other resources and you intend to rent or buy a home,” says Fernando Cos-Gayón, director of the Housing Observatory Chair at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, UPV, forcefully.
The House. That is the main problem today, for all generations. In the Valencian market, for example, the average rental price is higher, in some neighborhoods, than 1,500 euros per month, according to data from the UPV. “This means that with a salary of 1,500 euros or something more, 100% of the income must be allocated to housing because to that are added the own expenses added to the rent,” adds Cos-Gayón. The average rental price in Valencia, according to the latest report from the Chair, is 1,300 euros. Furthermore, the market for rental rooms, which is in full growth, represents an average cost of 500 euros per room, and growing.
María José Broseta, president of the Association of Neighborhood Federations of Valencia, shares the conclusion: “No, you cannot live in Valencia if you only earn 1,500 euros a month and do not have other resources such as savings, family help or some assets” . He recognizes that the situation “is becoming unbearable, not only for young people, but also for adults and older people who cannot cope with the increase in housing costs, much less buy at the prices at which they are so high. the new ones as well as the second-hand ones.” She adds Broseta that “the phenomenon is occurring of older people separating and one of the spouses having to return to live in her parents’ home.”
The data confirms it. In the Valencian Community there are 1,350,000 young people between 20 and 40 years old and of these, more than 50% still live at their parents’ home. A scenario that is also increasing among adults unable to cope with a life alone. Juan Campos is one of those cases: “When I separated it was impossible to find a rental, not only in Valencia, because in the towns of the metropolitan area prices are also increasing; I have had to live with my mother again.”
In the case of young people, the list of testimonies is long, but this one is useful, that of Mari Carmen, an administration employee at a private university. “I came to Valencia two years ago, I had a shared rental with my partner for 850 euros that they increased to 1,200 six months ago; Now I live alone again and pay 460 euros for a room in a shared apartment in Blasco Ibáñez.”
But it’s not just housing. The people consulted highlight the high cost of parking spaces, which in some neighborhoods exceed 100 euros per month; buying a car or shopping cart. “Either you have family help or some savings or it is impossible with 1,500 euros to live in the capital alone if you don’t have a partner,” says Juana Cuenca, an employee of a financial institution. And she adds that “the aid from the Administration is very limited for young people and you are forced to live in a rented room or move very far away in a town.” Juana regrets that “there is a lot of discussion about politics and it is said that the economy is doing well, but not for normal people,” she concludes.
