The debate about small landlords often mixes three different categories: individuals, owners with a single rented property, and large holders. They do not mean the same and their percentages are not interchangeable either.
The report A market dominated by multi-landlords, published by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030, estimates that landlords with a single rental property account for approximately 39% of the total rented housing.
Why different percentages appear
When the analysis is limited to homes rented by individuals, the proportion changes: 47.2% belongs to owners with a single rented property and 52.8% to those who have two or more.
The percentage close to 39% incorporates companies and public housing into the calculation. The difference is not a sudden market change, but a change in the set of homes used as a reference.
The report uses data from the 2023 Household Panel and focuses on the rental of primary residences, not on tourist rentals or commercial premises.
Having two rented properties does not make someone a large holder
The state housing law generally defines a large holder as the natural or legal person owning more than ten residential urban properties or more than 1,500 square meters of residential area, excluding garages and storage rooms.
In declared stressed areas, the definition can be specified to include holders of five or more residential properties located in that area, when the autonomous community justifies it.
Therefore, the statistical category of owner with two or more rented properties does not equate to the legal category of large holder.
What these data say about rental prices
The figures describe how ownership is distributed, but do not measure by themselves how much each group contributes to the increase in rental prices. To answer that question, it would be necessary to study prices, supply, demand, and territorial differences.
It is also incorrect to identify all rentals by individuals with small owners: a natural person can have a large portfolio of properties. And the number of rented properties does not necessarily inform about all their real estate assets.
The tax data used by these studies refer to territories under common regime, so they do not include the Basque Country and Navarra.