How much does it cost to move out on your own in Spain?

Moving out of your parents’ or legal guardians’ house is a life-changing decision, the definitive step into adulthood, the stage where you are responsible for your own life. Becoming independent is one of the most exciting moments of our lives, but also one of the most expensive (and not just in emotional terms). That’s why, if you’re thinking about moving out, we want to help you understand how and at what price you can achieve your independence. Let’s take it step by step…
 

What requirements should you consider when moving out?

Legally, in Spain you just need to be of legal age to move out without anyone’s permission. The law also allows minors between 16 and 18 to do so, provided it is granted by those who hold parental authority or by judicial concession.

But although there are no legal barriers to becoming independent at 18, the reality is that according to Eurostat, the average age at which young people leave home in Spain is 29.5 years. And that, no matter how attached you may be to family life, has mainly to do with money. More specifically, with the cost of finding a place to live.

Do you want to know the price of having your own home? Get your calculator out and let’s start crunching numbers.

The first challenge: finding a flat for young people moving out

When you’re a teenager dreaming of moving out, you usually picture yourself living in an apartment like those of the characters in TV shows, right in the city centre and with enough square metres to ride a bike inside. But when the moment of truth comes, you have to compare housing prices with your income and you realise that reality is usually quite far from what you imagined.

We don’t know what your financial situation is, but if we take into account that the most common salary in Spain is 1,320 euros net per month (according to INE data) and that if you’re at the start of your career your salary is probably lower, you’re going to have to weigh your options very carefully when it comes to finding your home.

Let’s start with the hardest one: buying a home. The price of a property depends on several factors: the area, the square metres, how old the building is… so we’ll just tell you that, on average, a home in Spain costs 179,887 euros. That is, 136.2 monthly salaries like the one we mentioned above. To cover such an outlay, the most common thing is that you’ll need to take out a mortgage, and to grant it the bank will demand requirements that are hard to meet for someone starting out in their professional life (permanent contract, a minimum income level…). Furthermore, mortgages usually only cover 80% of the property’s price, so you’ll need to have the remaining 20% available at the time of purchase. Complicated, right? Maybe that’s why 55% of Spaniards under 35 live in rented flats.

However, renting a home also requires meeting conditions. Landlords are legally entitled to demand a deposit equivalent to one full month’s rent, but it’s common for that amount to be expanded in the contract and for another monthly payment to be added as a fee for the real estate agency. Furthermore, when renting a flat the most usual thing is that they will ask you to prove your solvency by submitting payslips, the income and expense history of your bank account and even a bank guarantee or a guarantor who will answer for you in case of non-payment.

If you add to all of this the fact that the average rental price in big cities such as Madrid and Barcelona is around 800 euros, a very common option among people who have just moved out is sharing a flat. That means you’ll pay for your room and share the rest of the expenses, but also the living room, the kitchen, the bathrooms, the household chores, the visits from your flatmates… In short, living with other people can be a very fun experience, but your only private space is your room.

As you can see, accessing your first home can be complicated, and both the price and the difficulty of finding accommodation grow with the size of the city where you want to live. If your idea is to move out in Madrid, you’ll want to keep reading.

Moving out in Madrid

Madrid has more than 5 million inhabitants and more than half a million businesses, which makes it one of the destinations chosen by many young people when they move out, whether they are from Madrid or not. If that’s your case, the first thing you should know is that according to the portal En Alquiler, in 2022 the average price of a rented flat in the capital is 1,735 euros per month. In the case of a room, a study by the portal pisos.com talks about 426 euros per month.

The price per square metre varies a lot depending on the neighbourhood, which means that in the centre and the most iconic areas of the city you’ll pay more for a smaller space, probably in a very old building. The good news is that the Community of Madrid has one of the best public transport systems in the world, and a network of main routes that make moving from one part of the city to another as easy as it is fast. That means you can live in a nice spot for a lower price and reach the centre in minutes.

Also, if you want to move out it’s not all about renting or buying a house. There are flexible accommodation options like Be Casa, where you can live in your own studio or 1 or 2 bedroom apartment from 723 euros per month with everything included, with no rental contract or rigid stay lengths. That means you can stay as long as you want, from days or weeks to several months with the possibility of renewal. Plus, at Be Casa you get much more than an apartment: shared areas with pool, rooftops and terraces, sports spaces, café, etc. You also have areas dedicated to work, with individual desks or for working as a team and meeting rooms (and of course, there’s high-speed connection). And for even more independence, you have cleaning service, reception, security… they even collect your parcels for you. In short, this option lets you have all the privacy of a home alongside the comfort of a hotel and services designed to make you feel at home from day one.