Between 1991 and 2001 the supply of housing in the A.C. of the Basque Country grew by 104,240 units, with an annual average of 9,272 homes between 1991 and 1996 and a slightly higher rate than between 1996 and 2001, with 11,576, according to Eustat data.

45.1% of the growth in the whole of the A.C. of the Basque Country corresponded to Gipuzkoa between 1991 and 2001, 38.9% to Bizkaia and the remaining 16% to Álava.

The evolution of the housing supply differed according to the area; sharp growth corresponded to the districts around Vitoria-Gasteiz –32.8% Estribaciones del Gorbea and 17.1% Valles Alaveses-, for Donostia-San Sebastián –29.9% Urola Costa and 22.5% Bajo Bidasoa- and for Bilbao –20.6% Plentzia-Mungia and 16.2% el Duranguesado-.

In addition, Markina-Ondarroa and Gran Bilbao were the districts which least increased housing figures, 8% in 10 years.

Donostia-San Sebastián was the capital that increased its housing supply most over the last 10 years, growing by 17.3%

Donostia-San Sebastián was the capital that grew most, 17.3% between 1991 and 2001 –11,429 more family homes -, followed by Vitoria-Gasteiz with 16% -11,990 more-, Bilbao having the lowest growth with 6.6% -9,106 more homes-.

By municipalities, with regard to the increase in housing, Irun stands out with 3,699 more, Zarautz with 3,361 and Eibar with 2,525.

83,604 homes were empty when the census was carried out, 10.2%, -the lowest rate among autonomous communities

If we analyse the housing supply from the level of use at the moment the census was carried out, we can see that in 2001 85.1% of the total was used as the usual residence, almost 2 percent more than in 1996 and 3.8 more than in 1991. 10.2% of the whole of the housing supply were empty –83.604- or had intermediate use –5,541- and 4.7% were secondary. The latter grew 4.5% in 10 years, which represents a small increase by 1,809 units.

Álava has a smaller proportion of empty housing: 8.4% of the total, followed by Bizkaia with 9.9% and Gipuzkoa with 11.3%. Álava was also the province which most optimised its housing supply: the rate of empty housing fell 5,1 percent, Bizkaia saw a 3.4% reduction and 2.9% in Gipuzkoa.

The evolution has shown the supply to have the highest rate of use among the Spanish autonomous communities: in this case, one in every seven homes is unoccupied in the State –14%- compared with one in ten Basque homes. Ceuta with 11.2%, the Community of Madrid with 11.7% and Aragón with 12.5% were the other communities with lowest rates of unoccupied housing. It is also the community, with the exception of Ceuta and Melilla, with the lowest proportion of secondary housing: the A.C. of the Basque Country has half the proportion of this type than the communities that have least, Asturias with 9.3% and Madrid with 9.8%.

17.3% of Basque families have a second home, 73% outside the Community and 1,225 abroad. 14.3% of Basque secondary homes are occupied by residents from outside the Community

17.3% of Basque families have a second residence –129.449-, although only 27% of them are in the A.C. of the Basque Country. 1,225 families have a second residence abroad, have of which correspond to Gipuzkao and are in France. 14.3% of Basque secondary residences are used by residents from outside the community.

12,263 buildings contain more than one home from 1991 to 2001, which represents 11.8% of the total increase in homes in the period and 4,297 homes in buildings with two. However there is still a predominance of buildings with 3 to 10 homes –accounting for 30.6% of the total supply- and buildings with 11 to 20 –with 30.9%-.

The average Basque home is 35.3 years old and has 85.8 square meters surface area

The average age of the housing supply is 35.3 years, being 30.9 in Álava, 35.6 in Gipuzkoa and 36.3 in Bizkaia.

The average usable surface of family housing comes to 85.8 squarer meters, increasing by little more than a meter over the last 10 years. Álava presents the largest homes with an average of 90.2 square meters, followed by Gipuzkoa with 86 and Bizkaia with 84.5.

Housing in Sopelana, Berango, Irura, Getxo and Elorrio present the highest rate of comfort in the Community

Housing in Álava with 74.,7 points out of 100, presented the highest comfort rate, an indicator that is made taking into consideration the structure of the home (surface, age, number of rooms and bathrooms) and their equipment (gas central heating, fixed telephone, etc.). Housing in Gipuzkoa was second with 71.4 and Bizkaia was third with 69.1.

The municipalities with the most comfortable housing were Sopelana with a comfort rate of 82.8, Berango with 81, Irura with 78.7, Getxo with 77.8 and Elorrio with 77.4. Of the capitals, Vitoria-Gasteiz offered the highest score with 76.8, followed by Donostia-San Sebastián with 74.1 and Bilbao with 70.1.

The 2001 census shows the revolution in gas central heating: while in 1991 only 18.7% of housing used this type of fuel for heating, in 2001 the percentage was 51.1%, reaching 371,046 homes. Electricity, on the other hand, fell from 57.2% to 31.6% in 2001. 19,384 homes abandoned coal and coal by products, although 4,203 still use them.

The percentage of rented houses fell 2.9 percent in 10 years, affecting 7% of the residential supply

Almost 9 out of every 10 family homes –89.5%- belong to their residents, although over a third still owe money on them. This latter group has grown by six percent between 1991 and 2001. The rented supply at the end of the last year in the period came to 52,448 homes –7% of the total-. 62,395 homes were in this situation ten years before, representing 9.9% of the supply.

The decrease was sharper in Gipuzkoa, a province where in 1991 the rented supply was 12%, falling to 7.8% at present. Bizkaia lost 2.5 percent to reach 6.8%, Álava being the province which lost least –1.5 percent-, although it continued to have the smallest supply in 2001 with 6.1%.

30.9% of housing suffer problems of outside noise

the environmental problem that affects most Basque homes derives from outside noise, 30.9% of the cases, followed by a lack of cleanliness in the vicinity, 23.3% and one in five –19%- suffers some kind of pollution. Up to 5.5% of homes in the A.C. of the Basque Country –41,510- suffer the three problems simultaneously. On the other hand, only half –52.2%- are not affected by any. The highest percentage of housing with the three types of defect is in Bizkaia –6.9% of its housing-, while Álava and Gipuzkoa have figures of round 4%.

19.7% of the homes in Ortuella suffer noise, pollution and uncleanliness in the vicinity and this is the municipality with the highest proportion of housing with an environment with these defects. It is followed by Pasaia with 15.2% and Barakaldo with 14.5%. In Pasaia the most affected areas are San Juan Ensanche with 21.9% of housing affected and San Pedro Azkuene with 15.9%. In Barakaldo, Lutxana with 35.3% of housing, Burceña with 35.1% and El Regato with 30.3%, were the areas with most problems with regard to the environment.

Bilbao also rated above the community average with 7.7%. In the city, up to 34% of the housing in La Ribera, 24.1% in Bilbao la Vieja and 20.2% in San Francisco presented all three environmental problems.

215 municipalities were below the 5.5% community average of homes with the three problems, while the remaining 35 were above.

28.5% of neighbours lost more green zones in the vicinity of their homes

Neighbours in 11.9% of homes in the community consider communications to be bad, 28.5% would like more green spaces and 13.1% consider their area to be affected by delinquency. 1.3% of the total, 9,506 homes, suffer the three problems.

Neighbours in Bizkaia demand more green spaces, 34.8% compared to only 10.5 in Álava and 25.6% in Gipuzkoa. The latter suffer delinquency to a lesser extent: 9.3% compared to 15.5% in Bizkaia and 13.3% in Álava.