Against the background of a housing shortage in Mallorca, there is much discussion regarding the number of empty properties. The focus of this discussion is normally always Palma, with the situation in the rest of Mallorca generally ignored.
But there are some striking figures regarding these empty properties, none more so than the figure for Costitx. It has a total of 1,306 dwellings. Of these, 714 are empty, 54.7%.
Why is there such a high number? The president of the College of Real Estate Agents, José Miguel Artieda, says that it is partly due to a reluctance to rent properties out. More than this is the fact that many of the homes that appear in the census as empty should actually be registered as uninhabitable.
These are large houses that have been inherited but which require huge investment to make them habitable. "Many of these houses in villages in the interior are not suitable for rent because they are in very poor condition."
Artieda argues that these homes could be made profitable if there were permissions to convert them into small apartments. The Balearic government is in fact going to include provision for this in its new housing law. The housing minister, Marta Vidal, argues that as families are now smaller than they used to be, there is no need for apartments to be the size that some are. Conversion of this nature would also mean that no extra land is consumed.
In principle this sounds sensible. However, it can also be the case that these properties remain empty because of family disagreements or disputes.
Costitx is the most extreme case, but percentages of empty properties are high in other municipalities - Sencelles 41%, Llubi and Sant Joan 38%, Montuiri 37%, for instance.
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Ever spent any time in Costitx? Lovely little village. But... In high season, every minute, a low flying jet flies directly overhead on its approach to PMI. It's rather loud and quickly becomes tiresome. And it goes well into the night. Even in low season. The area around Santa Eugenia is even worse (even lower in their approach there). Yes, what this article speculates is probably true to some extent... Second homes, and/or inherited and the other family inheritors can't agree on what to do with it ... which would be typical ... But it also occurs to me that some just may not want to spend a lot of time in Costitx. And rental or sale prices are probably not up to market because of the aircraft noise. And if you can't get a decent rental price, then it's probably not worth the risk. Those who pay the least tend to be the most problematic.