The lockdown has made us spend more time at home than ever before, making us aware of its importance. Housing, however, has always been a priority for Spanish families, who prefer to own their homes. Their financial efforts and a well-functioning mortgage market have enabled three out of four families to own their homes in Spain, representing the highest rate in Europe.
For families, acquiring a home is the most significant asset decision of their lives, a purpose for which banks allocate almost half of their loans, with the aim of offering the best possible financing and thus boosting economic growth and prosperity. Their responsibility is to redouble efforts to keep the financing channel always open, because anything that hinders the flow of financing negatively impacts families and businesses. Hence, it is a priority for everyone to have a strong financial sector that operates under the necessary legal certainty. Banks, under strict regulation and highly demanding supervision, must adequately manage the risk of their portfolios, obligated as they are to serve their clients, on the one hand, and their shareholders and savers, on the other.
The health crisis has brought out the best in banks, which have dedicated all their human and economic resources to mitigating its impact on society and the economy. In collaboration with authorities, and also voluntarily, they have taken measures such as offering payment moratoriums on loans, mostly mortgages. During the worst of the crisis in March, they also offered to defer payments for a few months from the Social Housing Fund (FSV), created by banks in 2013 to house vulnerable families. Since then, year after year, banks have extended their contribution of housing to the fund to alleviate the problems of the families living in them, as part of a set of measures articulated to support individuals. Furthermore, the sector’s adherence to the Code of Good Practices during the previous crisis has allowed for a comprehensive set of measures to adapt payment capacities for their clients so that they do not lose their homes.
Banks assume their social responsibility and make it compatible with the responsibility of keeping financing flows open. The latter explains the process of selling real estate assets accumulated on the balance sheets of Spanish entities as a result of the financial crisis, a greater cleanup effort than their European competitors, which has now allowed them to have greater resources to shore up recovery and cover the needs of families. The banking sector’s responsibility focuses on revitalizing this market and keeping the financing circuit alive, thereby helping access to housing under conditions of complete freedom. This is what we have done, and our clients acknowledge it.
José Luis Martínez Campuzano, spokesperson for the Spanish Banking Association
