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The great failure of public housing in Spain: only 244 homes were built last year

The homes are part of the State Housing Plan 2022-2025.
They are distributed in seven autonomous communities.
The public housing stock in Spain represents only 2% of the total housing.
By Lorena Torío
Source: El Economista, 10/15/2024

The Government has fallen far short of its promises regarding public housing. From July 2023 to September 2024, only 244 homes were built within the State Housing Plan, a figure that contrasts with the goal of enabling 184,000 social or affordable rental homes in the medium and long term. Currently, the public housing stock barely reaches 2%, far from the 9.3% that other countries in Europe have.

In a parliamentary response to the Sumar deputy, Alberto Ibáñez, the Government explained that “since July 23, 2023, 13 new agreements have been signed to increase the public housing stock by 244 homes.” These homes are located in the communities of the Canary Islands, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Community of Madrid, Murcia and the Valencian Community.

In addition, through the Recovery Plan, agreements have been signed to build 13,837 homes with various municipalities and communities. This also includes the 10,700 homes planned in the historic Operation Campamento in Madrid, raising the figure to 24,700 homes mobilized in the last year, according to the authorities.

Spain faces a structural housing deficit. The Bank of Spain estimates that 600,000 homes would be needed by 2025 to meet demand, although there are almost 4 million empty or unoccupied homes in the country, according to its 2023 report. This deficit is due, among other reasons, to the lack of land to build on, concentrated in areas such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Malaga and Alicante.

Other factors that explain this lack of housing include the increase in construction costs, the shortage of qualified workers, the aging of the workforce in the sector and the lack of vocational training. Investment in the acquisition and promotion of urban land has also been reduced.

In addition, the Bank of Spain points out that the rise in holiday rentals has reduced the stock of available housing. This type of rental already accounts for almost 10% of the market and is estimated to occupy 1.8% of the total number of main residences, some 340,000 units.