Increasing the stock of available housing, articulating incentives so that property owners bring more units onto the rental market, and addressing the difficulties faced by young people in amassing the initial savings needed for their first home are emerging as essential elements for driving the emancipation of the new generations.
These issues have been addressed in depth at the event “Housing and young people: from diagnosis to solutions,” promoted by the Instituto Español de Banca y Finanzas (IEBF), where experts from the academic and professional world have gathered to analyze current obstacles to accessing housing and to discuss formulas that help facilitate leaving the family home.
As the organization has noted in a press release, the meeting takes place in a context of strong tension in the residential market. Data from the Banco de España indicate that between 2021 and 2025 a deficit of 750,000 homes was generated, arising from the mismatch between the creation of new households and the pace of construction of new housing.
To this imbalance is added the drop in the relative weight of buyers between 18 and 35 years old, whose prominence in home acquisition has fallen from 41% in 2007 to 22% in 2025.
The ability to save in order to meet the entry costs of a first home has become another of the major hurdles. The spring 2026 Financial Stability Report of the Banco de España concludes that savings restrictions reduce the likelihood of purchase more than limitations derived from the level of income.
In this context, the professor of Applied Economics at the Universidad Pompeu Fabra, José García Montalvo, has pointed out that “the housing problem is concentrated in large cities and tourist areas,” and has warned that “there is a growing deficit of supply in the face of strong demand, both for sale and for rent.”
At the same time, he has clarified that there is no evidence of a new real estate bubble or of an oligopoly by large property owners in the rental market.
Regarding lines of action, García Montalvo has argued that “economic policy must focus on increasing supply in a sustained manner, on improving the regulatory and governance framework for land, and on establishing a stable, long-term strategy that can be evaluated.”
Having a job is no longer enough to move out
The generational vision has been driven by Daniela Macarena Álvarez, cofounder of Ac2ality, who has focused on the barriers that condition young people’s plans for the future.
In her view, "having a job no longer guarantees being able to become independent," and she has urged "to stop looking for culprits and start talking about solutions." In addition, she has stressed that "it is not only about being able to buy or rent a house, but about starting a life project."
From the IEBF, the general director, Francisco Uría, has emphasized that the analyses of the Banco de España and the INE released in 2026 show "a serious problem of lack of supply in the housing market in Spain." In his opinion, policies should be aimed at "significantly increasing the number of homes that are built each year and encouraging property owners to offer them for rent."
Along the same lines, the director of the IEBF, Manuel Balmaseda, has underlined that "Spain’s economic and demographic dynamism is good news," although he has insisted that it is essential that "housing construction keep pace with that growth." In this vein, he has considered that "increasing residential supply in the areas with the highest demand would make it possible to improve accessibility, facilitate workers’ mobility, and strengthen productivity."