At the same time, a segment of the population reports that it is difficult to trust the banking system, with the current economic situation increasing the risks of exposure, both due to more selective disbursement policies and due to the rise in the cost of money which made mortgages more expensive. Specifically, among large families, one out of five declares that they do not have the requirements for access to credit (21.1% of the total, to be precise), a value that is almost triple compared to the 7.5% of the sample average . Higher percentages than the average are also recorded for families with minor children (13.1%) and single people under 45 (10.7%).
This helps to explain the decline in the propensity to purchase homes in the coming months by Italians, which involves 12% of households compared to 13.3% recorded in 2022, confirming the uncertainties that have emerged about the future prospects which concern, in particular the family perimeter. In addition, this year’s survey highlights, in contrast to the two previous editions, a lower propensity on the part of families intending to buy a home by taking out a mortgage, going from 83% in 2022 to 78% in 2023.
In the last 12 months, the behavior of Italian families in relation to the purchase of a house shows some important typologies: multifamilies have shown a greater degree of activation on the purchase front, with a reinforced protagonism on the part of the “sandwich families” and from those with dependent people.
Among single households, on the other hand, it is the households made up of single people under 45 that have shown greater purchasing dynamism.
Rentals, an expensive alternative
However, since the country system has not managed to plan in time an adequate offer to meet a greater and more careful housing demand, especially in terms of social housing, many families remain trapped in renting, which can often become a contributing cause of poverty faced with sudden family changes (including the increase in family members, the presence of a disabled person or a non-self-sufficient family member, family separation, the simultaneous management of children and elderly parents) and the increase in rental lease, which especially in large cities has reached levels that are not easily sustainable with respect to the income capacity of families. The share of households who expect, in the next 12 months, to be able to find difficulties in regular payment of the rent increased from 31.4% to 34.8%.