Housing Policy In Spain: Lessons Learned And Future Challenges

The trajectory of the Spanish housing policy has shaped the current housing system and it shows its non-neutrality in its effects on tenure or on the redistribution of wealth. In Spain, the usual scheme of housing intervention is far from those policies implemented by its European neighbours, possibly due to a different conceptualization regarding the responsibilities assumed by the welfare state. Spanish housing policy has tended to stimulate new construction with a double objective, to promote homeownership as a priority form of tenure and to stimulate the real estate sector as a catalyst for economic growth. This strategy has not happened in Europe where the concept of social housing, public and affordable, has become firmly established in the housing schemes. The aim of this article is two-folded: on the one hand, once the Spanish Welfare State is characterised and having identified the main tools of housing policy in Spain over the years, the paper aims to determine both negative and positive effects of the implementation of housing policy in the Spanish housing system. On the other, the paper will point out the remaining challenges in this field providing an alternative path to achieve them.