Business · Economy · 17 hrs ago
Spain’s housing shortage is tightening the rental market
Spain’s rental market is under pressure because too few homes are available for the number of people who need them.
From 2021 to 2025, 1.2 million new households formed, while fewer than 470,000 homes were completed.
Many people who would once have moved from renting to buying now remain renters, adding to competition for existing homes.
The share of households renting rose from 17.5% in 2018 to 20.2% in 2025, while long-term rental listings on Idealista fell from 903,000 to 510,000.
The piece argues that building more homes, including homes for people to buy, could ease pressure on rents by freeing up places for new renters.
New construction would take years, so it also calls for reconsidering rental controls and extensions and proposes public insurance against rent default to spread landlords’ risk.
The piece does not set out what policy changes will be made next.
Spain’s rental market is tightening as housing supply fails to keep pace with household growth, according to an El País article.
Between 2021 and 2025, 1.2 million new households formed, while fewer than 470,000 new homes were completed.
The article says a shortage of homes is keeping more people in rentals and making it harder for renters to move into home ownership.
The share of Spanish households renting rose from 17.5% in 2018 to 20.2% in 2025.
Long-term rental listings on Idealista fell from 903,000 in 2018 to 510,000 in 2025.
- Who
- Spanish households, renters and people seeking housing.
- What
- A housing shortage is tightening the rental market and making it harder for people to move from renting to owning.
- When
- The article reports figures for 2018 to 2025, including 1.2 million new households formed between 2021 and 2025.
- Where
- Spain.
- Why
- The article attributes the pressure to too few new homes, leaving more people to compete for existing housing.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
No direct quotes in the coverage so far.
Renting accounted for 17.5% of Spanish households, and Idealista had 903,000 long-term rental listings.
Spain formed 1.2 million new households and completed fewer than 470,000 new homes.
Renting accounted for 20.2% of Spanish households, and Idealista had 510,000 long-term rental listings.
Rental listings fell in Spain’s ten most populous cities during the week of the extension decrees.
- New households
- 1.2 million formed in Spain between 2021 and 2025
- New homes
- Fewer than 470,000 completed in Spain between 2021 and 2025
- Households renting
- 20.2% in 2025, up from 17.5% in 2018
- Long-term rental listings
- 903,000 in 2018; 510,000 in 2025 on Idealista
- Rental listing change
- Murcia −12.5%, Madrid −9.2%, Valencia −7.5% during 29 September–5 October
Sources
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