The salary you need to buy a 75-meter house in each Spanish capital

The report you are referring to aligns with the final report of the Special Committee on the Housing Crisis of the European Parliament, approved in 2026, which makes recommendations for decent, sustainable, and affordable housing and coordinates with the European Affordable Housing Plan presented by the Commission in December 2025. Based on these documents, the next steps in housing policy at the European level focus on three fronts: implementation of the Plan by the Commission, legislative and budgetary concretization by the Member States (and the Council), and political monitoring by the Parliament.

1. Implementation of the European Affordable Housing Plan (European Commission)

The Commission has presented the first European Affordable Housing Plan, which aims to increase housing supply, boost investments and reforms, regulate short-term rentals in pressured areas, and support the most affected groups (youth, students, essential workers, low-income households, and homeless people). From now on, its main steps are:

• Launch of the “European Housing Alliance”, which will bring together Member States, cities and regions, EU institutions, housing providers, social partners, industry, and civil society to coordinate the execution of the Plan (Commission note).
• Development of the new legislative initiative on short-term rentals, aimed at providing local and regional authorities with tools to limit the impact of this phenomenon on housing affordability.
• Revision of State aid rules (services of general economic interest) to facilitate financing of affordable and social housing, beyond traditional social housing schemes.
• Strengthening European investment: mobilizing more funds (43 billion euros are already mentioned) and launching a Pan-European Investment Platform together with the European Investment Bank and national public banks, focused on affordable housing and rehabilitation.
• Promotion of the European Strategy for Housing Construction and the New European Bauhaus to encourage sustainable, quality construction and renovation projects with less bureaucracy.
• Status report before the end of the term and organization of the first EU Housing Summit in 2026, to keep the topic on the highest political agenda.

2. Transfer to national and local policies (Member States and Council)

Although housing is primarily a national and local competence, both the Commission’s Plan and the Parliament’s report outline a framework of action that governments must specify. Expected steps include:

• Tax adjustments: incentives for low- and middle-income households, reduction of registration costs for first-time buyers, and fiscal frameworks that make long-term renting more attractive (Parliament resolution).
• Investment programs in social, public, cooperative, and affordable housing, leveraging existing European funds and unused resources from the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
• Administrative simplification in urban planning and permits: digitization of permits and maximum deadlines (the Parliament proposes around 60 days for sustainable and affordable projects).
• Specific strategies in pressured cities and regions, where analyses by the Joint Research Centre highlight the greatest needs: large metropolitan areas, coastal zones, and tourist destinations, with an estimated deficit of more than 2 million new homes per year until 2035 (JRC report).
• Combined measures of tenant protection and property defense, including limits on abusive rent increases, combating illegal occupation, and strengthening mechanisms against homelessness (for example, programs based on the “Housing First” approach).

3. Role of the European Parliament and timeline

Once its report is approved, the Parliament moves from the diagnosis and recommendation phase to monitoring and political pressure:

• Monitoring legislative proposals presented by the Commission (short-term rentals, State aid, construction strategy, etc.) to ensure they reflect the report’s priorities.
• Supervising the use of European funds allocated to housing, demanding that they be directed to increase supply and improve energy efficiency.
• Keeping the topic on the agenda through appearances by the Housing Commissioner, plenary debates, and possible new sectoral resolutions (youth, students, homeless people).

In summary, following the publication of the report and the Plan, the EU enters a phase of implementation and regulatory concretization: rules on State aid and tourist rentals, public–private partnerships, simplification of permits, and strong mobilization of investment to build and rehabilitate millions of additional homes by 2035.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda (MIVAU) is the department of the General State Administration responsible for the proposal and execution of the Government's policy on housing, urban agenda, building quality, and land. This general function forms the basis of its powers to address housing accessibility, both in terms of availability and price as well as physical and urban accessibility.

1. Basic regulatory framework of its powers

The Ministry's current functions are configured through several government organization royal decrees:

• Royal Decree 829/2023, of November 20, which restructures ministerial departments, creates the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda and assigns it the government policy on housing, urban agenda, building quality, and land (as recalled, for example, by Order VAU/1177/2025).
• Royal Decree 1009/2023, of December 5, establishes the basic organic structure of ministerial departments and formally creates MIVAU, as reflected in the resolution on agreements with SEPES for affordable rental (BOE-A-2025-22323).
• Royal Decree 208/2024, of February 27, develops the Ministry's basic organic structure and details the distribution of its powers among the State Secretariat for Housing and Urban Agenda, the General Secretariat for Urban Agenda, Housing and Architecture, the general directorates, etc. Various agreements cite this royal decree as the regulation that specifies the Department's functions in housing, land, urban agenda, and statistics (for example, the agreement with OnCities2030: BOE-A-2025-26446).

2. Core powers in housing policy

Based on these royal decrees, and as derived from orders and agreements published in the BOE, the Ministry is responsible for:

• The proposal and execution of the Government's policy related to access to housing, aiming to guarantee the constitutional right to decent and adequate housing. This is explicitly stated in the Council of Ministers' agreement on the transfer of SAREB assets to SEPES for affordable housing (BOE-A-2025-15292).
• The design of the state policy on affordable and social housing, including plans and programs such as the State Housing Plan 2026‑2030, whose axes include: increasing the public housing stock, improving accessibility and rehabilitation, supporting youth, and reducing household financial burden (according to Demócrata's information on the draft royal decree of the Plan).
• The management of subsidies and agreements with autonomous communities and other actors to:
  • Promote affordable or social rental housing together with SEPES / Casa 47.
  • Rehabilitate buildings and neighborhoods, including accessibility improvements in the existing stock (for example, public building rehabilitation programs in Navarra and Extremadura: BOE-A-2025-24237 and BOE-A-2025-9453).
• The mobilization of land and public assets for affordable housing, in coordination with the Treasury and Economy, as shown by the task to identify SAREB assets and transfer them to SEPES to be permanently allocated to the public affordable housing stock (BOE-A-2025-15292).
• The programming and preparation of statistics and analyses on the housing and land situation, a competence assigned to the Undersecretariat under Royal Decree 208/2024 and specified in the agreement with the Bank of Spain on information exchange (BOE-A-2025-13978) and in agreements to strengthen the evaluation of public housing policies.

3. Specific powers related to accessibility

Housing accessibility is addressed in several dimensions by the Ministry:

• Economic accessibility: through state housing plans and financial agreements (such as the “Facility for the promotion of social housing” with ICO, mentioned in agreements published in the BOE), affordable rental aid, support for youth and vulnerable groups, and mobilization of homes from SAREB to the public stock.
• Physical accessibility and building quality: the Ministry assumes powers in building quality and in regulating and modifying the Technical Building Code, which includes universal accessibility requirements in residential buildings. Additionally, it finances rehabilitation actions to improve accessibility of homes and urban environments.
• Urban and territorial accessibility: through the General Secretariat for Urban Agenda, Housing and Architecture and the General Directorate of Urban Agenda and Architecture, the Ministry promotes the Spanish Urban Agenda and sustainable urban development policies. Article 4 of Royal Decree 208/2024, cited in several agreements (BOE-A-2025-26446, BOE-A-2025-26444), assigns this General Directorate the development and dissemination of the Urban Agenda, participation in national and international forums, and promotion of studies on urban policies and vulnerable neighborhoods.
• Governance and participation: the Ministry promotes consultative bodies such as the Housing Advisory Council and the Council on Architecture Quality, to involve administrations, the private sector, and civil society in the design of housing policy and in improving the quality and accessibility of the built environment.

4. Limits and territorial coordination

It is important to note that housing competence is highly shared:

• Autonomous communities have broad housing powers and regulate much of the public housing stock and direct aid.
• Municipalities exercise key powers in urban planning and permits.
• MIVAU sets the state framework, major financing programs, basic building regulations, and coordination instruments (state plans, Spanish Urban Agenda, observatories, agreements, and consultative bodies), through which it conditions and supports housing accessibility throughout the territory.

In Spain, access to housing and mortgages is regulated by a “block” of state laws that set common basic conditions for the entire territory, over which the autonomous communities then develop their competences. Below is the essential map, separated between housing and mortgage credit.

1. Key regulations on access to housing

• Spanish Constitution, Article 47
  It is not a sectoral law, but it is the basis: it recognizes the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing and obliges public authorities to promote the necessary conditions and establish the pertinent rules to make it effective. All subsequent legislation is built on this mandate.
• Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing (text in BOE).
  It is the first major specific state housing law. It has a basic character in many of its provisions (common minimum conditions for all Autonomous Communities) and regulates, among other aspects:
  • The concept and content of the right to housing and the principles of housing policy.
  • Pressured residential market zones and the framework to intervene on rental prices.
  • The regime of large holders and additional information and collaboration obligations.
  • Criteria on public housing stocks and protected housing.
  • Certain procedural rules related to evictions of habitual residence from large holders (some of these provisions have been nuanced by the Constitutional Court in judgments SSTC 79/2024, 26/2025, and 190/2025, but the law remains the basic state framework).
• Law 29/1994, on Urban Leases (LAU) (text in BOE).
  It is the central regulation of housing rental and other urban leases: contract duration, extensions, rent updates, subrogations, termination causes, etc. It has undergone several reforms but remains the basic private framework of the landlord–tenant relationship, complemented by Law 12/2023 and regional regulations.
• Royal Decree-Law 7/2019, of March 1, on urgent measures in housing and rental (text in BOE).
  It introduces relevant reforms in the LAU and other laws to strengthen tenants’ position (for example, extension of mandatory and tacit renewal periods, rules on deposits and additional guarantees, tax treatment of rental housing). Some provisions were declared unconstitutional, but it remains a key piece of the current regime.
• Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30, approving the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law (text in BOE).
  It regulates at the state level the basic conditions on land, rehabilitation, and urban environment, with direct impact on the availability and quality of the housing stock, substandard housing, urban regeneration, and accessibility.
• Regulations on state housing plans (for example, RD 106/2018 and RD 853/2021).
  These royal decrees regulate aid programs for rental, rehabilitation, and social housing, co-financed with Autonomous Communities and municipalities. They do not regulate subjective rights but do set conditions of access and economic requirements for public aid.

2. Key regulations on mortgages and mortgage debtors

• Law 5/2019, of March 15, regulating real estate credit contracts (text in BOE).
  It is the core law on mortgage contracting with individuals:
  • It transposes Directive 2014/17/EU and strengthens pre-contractual transparency (FEIN, FIAE, prior information deadlines, notary visit before signing, comprehension test).
  • It regulates the minimum content of contracts, limits on default interest, early maturity, and commissions.
  • It sets the regime for real estate credit intermediaries and lenders and their supervision.
• Royal Decree-Law 6/2012, of March 9, on urgent measures to protect mortgage debtors without resources (text in BOE), and Law 1/2013, of May 14, strengthening protection for mortgage debtors, partially in force.
  They establish specific measures for vulnerable households: debt restructuring, limits on evictions, possibility of payment in kind in certain cases, social housing funds, etc. They have been modified by Royal Decree-Law 5/2017 and Law 5/2019.
• Royal Decree-Law 19/2022, of November 22 and the Code of Good Practices approved and amended by resolutions of 11/23/2022 and 12/27/2023 (RDL 19/2022, Code 2022, 2023 reform).
  They create and adjust a voluntary adherence code for financial entities, with extraordinary measures (grace periods, term extensions, temporary freezing of installments) aimed at vulnerable mortgage debtors facing rapid interest rate increases.
• Order EHA/2899/2011, on transparency and protection of banking service customers (text in BOE), and Bank of Spain Circulars 5/2012 and 4/2021.
  They develop banking transparency regulation, information on rates, commissions, and product advertising, complementing Law 5/2019. Circular 5/2012, in particular, focuses on responsibility in loan granting and mortgage transparency.
• Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, consolidated text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users (text in BOE).
  It is not specific to mortgages but sets the general regime of unfair clauses and consumer protection, which also applies to mortgage contracts (for example, nullity of certain floor clauses, disproportionate early maturities, etc.).

Together, this legislation defines who can access public housing aid, how rentals and evictions are regulated, and under what conditions mortgages on primary residences are contracted, executed, and restructured.