Sectorial studies

The fragility of the Spanish job market, characterised by a high incidence of temporary contracts and high structural unemployment, particularly impacting the Spanish youth, has led to an increased concentration of young people in major urban areas due to migration in search of work opportunities. However, less affordable housing in the cities is not only reducing the wealth of this age cohort but is accompanied by negative repercussions for society as a whole, which need to be addressed by public policies aimed to foster quality job creation, as well as affordable housing.

Residential rents have increased sharply over the past decade, with average household expenditure on rent increasing by 27.7% between 2015 and 2022- well above the growth in average household income – yet with notable differences across the Spanish regions. The rent control policies introduced in 2022 have kept growth in average spending on rent at 2.1% (compared to 11.2% in 2019), however, although there are no rigorous studies, some real estate portal reports suggest these policies have also led to an estimated reduction of 30% in the supply of rental housing.