| Tenure Distribution * | Owner occupancy | Private rental | Social rental * | |
| Spain | 75% | 16% | 2% | |
| Catalonia | 69% | 23% | 1.7% | |
| Barcelona | 69% | 24% | 1.8% | |
| Affordability | House price to income ratio | Expenditure to income ratio * | Avg social rent to avg private rent | |
| Spain | - | 32% | - | |
| Catalonia | - | 35% | - | |
| Housing Stock | Avg dwelling size * * | Avg household size * | % of housing built before 1980 * | |
| Spain | 106.5m² | 2.5 | 47% | |
| Barcelona | 78m² | 2.3 | 63% | |
| Housing Delivery | Target (2024) | Total supply (2023) * | Affordable supply (2023) * | |
| Spain | - | 447,691 | 8,847 |
In Spain, homeownership predominates at 75%. Affordable homes provided by arms-length organisations by autonomous communities (regional governments) and municipalities are called ‘protected housing’. In 2023, only 8,847 protected housing units were built.
In contrast to other countries, protected housing has traditionally been for sale rather than rental. While the conditions attached to protected housing vary by autonomous communities, they commonly must be used as the sole residence of the buyers and cannot be resold for a period of 10-15 years. However, much protected housing is sold on the private market after the end of the protection period. Between 2019 and 2023, of 63,368 protected housing units, 33,204 (52%) were offered for sale.
There are emerging policies to prevent this loss of protected housing stock. Catalonia, for example, has recently made the protection status permanent so units cannot be resold on the open market.
Sale prices are capped by autonomous communities and income restrictions apply to new buyers, with the capped sale price for mid-income households being around 60% of the private market value in Barcelona. However, a homeownership model means that many low income groups are excluded, as buyers need a deposit and private financing.
There are also emerging policies to increase the protected rental housing stock of currently 3%. Between 2014 and 2023 the proportion of protected rental housing has increased from 15% to 29% in new-built protected housing supply.
Arms-length housing organisations can receive some public funding for the construction of new homes. However, as protected housing is often built for sale, housing organisations generally work with a revolving fund due to a lack of direct subsidies and long-term financial investment, causing slow progress in affordable housing supply. Where protected rental housing is provided as part of a new housing development, it often depends on cross-subsidies from private sale units.
Spain’s housing is comparably new, with 55% built before 1980. It is a country of flats and only 33% of households live in single-family homes. There are significant differences in the size of flats and houses, with the average single-family house completed in 2023 having an average 165m2 compared to 100m2 in flats. There are also regional differences in dwelling sizes with homes in Barcelona and Madrid smaller than elsewhere.
The requirement set for the design of protected housing is defined by a set of national building regulations, regional building codes, and protected housing standards. In Catalonia, the minimum design requirements differ for subsidised and privately developed housing, with protected dwellings having lower standards. For example, the size of a protected housing unit is capped. Some public housing providers have their own design guides and development standards.