Spain’s housing crisis — and the questions for Britain
What Spain’s housing crisis reveals, and how evidence from Britain and other European countries helps frame the questions.
Spain’s housing debate raises questions about affordability, security and supply. How do the pressures—and the evidence behind different responses—compare with Britain?
Europe & Britain · Sources rechecked on 10 October 2026
The Madrid eviction
Reuters reports that Maricarmen Abascal, 87, was evicted from her Madrid home on 23 September.1
How housing reached the ballot box
On 5 October, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a general election for 29 November. His official statement identified access to housing among the problems still requiring action and argued for a larger parliamentary majority.2 The statement also discussed parliamentary opposition and public services; it did not identify a single eviction as the sole reason for the election.
The policy response is moving quickly. Spain’s government says two emergency housing decrees were approved on 6 October and published on 7 October. Its 8 October explanation describes measures concerning vulnerable tenants, affordable supply and rental stability. It also says parliamentary validation is required. Some measures are already in force; the second decree’s proposed start date is 15 November, subject to validation.3 The legal status and commencement dates are separate from the announcement.
How large is Europe’s shortfall?
The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre projects that the EU will require more than two million new homes a year by 2035. Its analysis estimates 7.14 million additional dwellings beyond 17.06 million already planned over the period to 2035. That additional requirement combines earlier construction shortfalls, demographic demand and replacement needs in regions expected to face shortages.4
These are EU projections, not a current headcount of homeless households, and they do not cover every European country. A national total also hides geography: a vacant home far from employment does not automatically solve a shortage where people need to live. The JRC identifies cities, capital regions and areas with significant tourism as places under particular pressure.4
Building costs meet household budgets
The Commission’s Affordable Housing Plan identifies high construction costs, limited productivity and capacity, and skilled-labour shortages as obstacles to housing supply.5 That gives WIKI a question to follow: when the cost of delivering a home rises, who bridges the gap between that cost and what a household can pay?
Supply, tenant protection and affordability describe different parts of housing policy: homes delivered, security for existing residents and the cost to households.
THE HOME AND THE PAY PACKET · WIKI’S CONTINUING HOUSING SERIES
A country can promise more homes. Could we afford one?
Between 1997 and 2023, median house prices in England and Wales rose by approximately 350%, while median full-time earnings grew by around 100%. Wages doubled; house prices reached roughly four-and-a-half times their starting level. Both figures include inflation over the same period. These are changes in median sale prices, rather than a measure adjusted for the mix of homes sold, and cover England and Wales rather than all Britain.10
Put that into an ordinary household decision. A £300,000 home bought with a 10% deposit requires £30,000 in savings and a £270,000 mortgage. At an illustrative borrowing multiple of 4.5 times gross household income, the buyers would need £60,000 a year between them—before the lender considers their other commitments. This is an example, rather than a mortgage offer.
Counting new homes is only part of the story. Their price, location and tenure determine whom they can actually serve. Additional supply can ease pressure, but a construction target alone does not tell us whether ordinary households can afford the homes delivered.
There has been some improvement: since 2021, median earnings in England and Wales have risen by 25%, compared with 5% for median house prices. That matters, although it has not undone the longer deterioration in affordability.11
The figures raise questions for governments, councils, lenders and builders. WIKI will keep asking three questions: what can ordinary households afford, what is being delivered, and which approaches have evidence behind them?
The questions for Britain
Spain and Britain have different legal systems and housing markets. The comparison raises several questions: where are homes being completed, what can ordinary incomes afford, how are vulnerable residents supported, and which measures have taken effect?
For a buyer, the purchase price is only the opening number. Energy, transport, maintenance and the resilience of the household budget belong in the same decision. For a renter, the headline rent matters alongside security and the practical options if circumstances change.
What do the different approaches show?
The examples below address different parts of the crisis. They distinguish evidence that homes were delivered, evidence that rents were lower than they otherwise would have been, and evidence that people kept stable accommodation.
Vienna: keep affordable homes in the system
Vienna’s housing bodies report 220,000 municipal flats and 200,000 subsidised flats. That is substantial evidence of a model operating at scale. The city argues that this stock also moderates the wider rental market. Its own account is useful for understanding delivery, but is not an independent experiment proving the exact effect on rents.6
The stock figures describe scale. They do not, by themselves, establish the costs or effects of reproducing the model elsewhere.
Auckland: make room to build
A 2026 study in Economic Inquiry examines Auckland’s 2016 reform allowing denser housing across roughly three-quarters of residential land. Using a synthetic comparison with other New Zealand urban areas, it estimates that rents for new tenancies in 2024 were 23% below the level expected without reform.7 That does not mean rents fell 23% in cash terms. It is an estimate against a modelled alternative, and depends on the comparison method.
The study provides evidence about one large planning reform. Auckland is a comparator outside Europe; its estimate does not establish the result for every British town.
Housing First: give people a stable base
England’s pilots in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and the West Midlands combined settled housing with flexible support. The national evaluation reports that 92% of the 167 clients completing baseline and 12-month follow-up surveys were in long-term accommodation after a year. The report expressly cautions that, without a comparison group, the observed changes cannot formally be attributed to Housing First.8
The evaluation concerns people with complex needs. It does not measure a solution to the entire housing shortage.
Finland: progress needs maintaining
Finland’s official statistics record more than a decade of declining homelessness before increases in 2024 and 2025. In 2025, 4,579 people living alone were homeless, up 20% on the previous year. Municipalities reported pressures including changes to social security, living costs and rent-payment difficulties.9 The national trend does not isolate the effect of any single policy.
These sources measure different outcomes: housing stock, modelled rents, accommodation retained and national homelessness. They cannot be combined into a single ranking of housing policies. Costs, local conditions and the strength of each method matter when making comparisons.
Sources and further reading
- Reuters: report on the Madrid eviction and housing debate · 23 September 2026. Independent reporting.
- Spanish government: election announcement · 5 October 2026. Primary source; the government’s own account.
- Spanish government: emergency housing measures · 8 October 2026. Spanish-language primary source; status checked against this government account on 10 October 2026.
- Joint Research Centre: EU housing needs to 2035 · 16 December 2025. Projections, not a present-day Europe-wide shortage total.
- European Commission: European Affordable Housing Plan · 16 December 2025.
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Sources for the solutions
- Vienna: municipal and subsidised housing · City housing organisations’ account; stock figures checked 8 October 2026.
- Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy: Can zoning reform reduce housing costs? Evidence from rents in Auckland · Economic Inquiry, 2026. Synthetic-control study.
- Housing First Pilots: final synthesis report · UK government commissioned evaluation, October 2024; 12-month outcomes, page 24.
- Finland: Homeless people 2025 · Ministry of the Environment’s housing centre; updated 12 May 2026.
Sources for the home and the pay packet
- ONS: Housing affordability in England and Wales, 2023 · Figure 2; rounded growth derived from the published description of prices reaching 4.5 times their 1997 level and earnings doubling.
- ONS: Housing affordability in England and Wales, 2025 · Released 26 March 2026; latest comparison since 2021.