Access to housing becomes main worry for Catalans for first time since 2007

Access to housing has become the main problem for Catalans for the first time since 2007, according to the latest survey from the Center for Opinion Studies.

One in five citizens said access to housing is their number one concern. This figure is only exceeded in the sixty barometers published over the last two decades in October 2007, when it was the top concern for 21.2% of respondents, when the real estate bubble began to collapse.

The difficulties in finding a home are the main problem for all age groups under 64 years old, but especially so for Catalans aged 25-34 years, as 36% of respondents in that age group cited it as their biggest worry.

It is the top concern for those aged 18-24 (26%), those aged 25-34 (36%), those aged 35-49 (23%) and those aged 50-64 (16%).

According to director of the CEO poll, Joan Rodríguez Teruel, concern about access to housing is seen across “all voter groups, ages, and socio-demographic backgrounds.”

For the various parties, half of Comuns voters (49%) cited it as their top worry, as did four out of ten CUP voters (39%), and significant portions of voters of Esquerra (23%), Socialists (21%), Junts (20%), and the People's Party (17%).

Among those who say they support the far-right parties Vox and Aliança, immigration is the most serious problem.

Rodríguez Teruel explained that analyses of the polls must take into account the fact that the survey was carried out before the housing debate of recent days.

The survey was carried out between October 11 and November 14 with 2,000 respondents, and shows that 43% of the electorate believes that reducing poverty and social inequalities should be the priority of the new government.

Other priorities

Promoting economic growth is a priority for 23% of voters, and public order and security is top for 15%, while addressing climate change and drought is the main worry of 10%.

In addition, the results show a stark contrast among the population on immigration.

Two out of three respondents believe that immigrants make a “valuable contribution” to maintaining the economy and services, but the same proportion believes that the government – ​​without specifying which – has lost control of who enters the country.

59% of people believe that there is too much immigration, but almost the same proportion (54%) say that without them, the future of Catalonia would be worse.