Housing·8h agoSpain mortgage average hits record 181,285 euros as August home sales rise 3.4%Home sales rose 3.4% year on year in August to 49,319, while mortgages rose 2.3% to 33,841 and the average loan reached 181,285 euros, according to Spain's National Statistics Institute.
Housing·7h agoPuerta del Sol camp thins out as shops report October falls of up to 66%Tents were removed and some access routes reopened on Monday, 26 October, as the protest camp in Madrid's Puerta del Sol neared one month. Shops around the square report steep revenue falls, while organisers debate how and when to wind down.
Housing·9h agoAI-generated illustrationGerman government presents draft law for simpler, cheaper building under Gebäudetyp EThe Justice and Building Ministries want construction contract law changed so builders can agree to drop comfort standards that are not legally required. Pilot projects point to 10 to 15 percent lower building costs.
Housing·from Oct 24·upd. yesterdayPhoto: NorbertNagel, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons, cropped)Police clear housing protest camps in Lisbon and Porto, leaving injuries and arrestsPolice dismantled roughly 200 tents in Lisbon's Praça Pedro IV and Porto's Praça D. João I in the early hours of Sunday, 25 October. Police reported about ten injuries, including three officers, and around thirty detentions, while organisers counted 37 minor injuries in Porto.
Housing·from Oct 22·upd. 4d agoAirbnb bars hosts from making guests wash dishes or strip beds for bookings from 20 NovemberHosts can no longer require guests to wash dishes, strip beds or take out the rubbish, and must pick from seven standard house rules. The changes cover all bookings made from 20 November.
Housing·20h agoPhoto: UK Prime Minister, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons, cropped)Burnham commits extra £432m to end rough sleeping in England by ChristmasAndy Burnham is adding £432m to the rough sleeping programme, a sum due to be confirmed in Wednesday's Budget. The total is put at £874m, and the programme will run until the end of the current Parliament in 2029.
Housing·21h agoAI-generated illustrationSpanish households squeezed as food basket rises 40% and benchmark indicator stays frozenConsumer group OCU puts its food basket up 40%, while the IPREM aid benchmark has stayed frozen since 2023. Spain's 4.9% inflation in September was the highest among the large eurozone economies.
Housing·from Oct 20·upd. 6d agoPhoto: Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons, cropped)Portugal housing protesters return to Lisbon and Porto camps after 55 arrestsProtesters in Lisbon and Porto returned to central squares on Tuesday, 20 October, hours after police dismantled their camps and detained 55 people in the capital. Organisers voted to pitch tents again at Rossio Square from Wednesday, 21 October.
Housing·4d agoAI-generated illustrationPortugal approves decree to unlock inherited vacant homes and blames rental lawPortugal's Council of Ministers approved the final decree on undivided inheritances on Thursday, 22 October. Minister Leitão Amaro cited 485,000 vacant homes and blamed the previous government's rental law for pushing properties off the market.
Housing·from Oct 23·upd. 3d agoTwo detained, 19 police hurt at Vitoria eviction protest in SansomendiPolice moved in on a protest against the eviction of a family with six minor children in Vitoria-Gasteiz on Friday, 23 October. The Basque Security Department reports two arrests, 58 people identified and 19 officers injured, while the city council says it offered the family emergency shelter.
Housing·yesterdaySheep and goats detour around Madrid housing camp at Transhumance FestivalSheep and goats avoided Puerta del Sol on Sunday, 25 October 2026, as the 33rd Transhumance Festival detoured around a housing protest camp. The 1,250 sheep and 160 goats ended their route at Plaza de la Villa, where the city council received the symbolic toll.
Housing·5d agoMulti-home landlords in Spain charge 7.1% more rent but explain 18% of the riseAn EsadeEcPol study of tax data finds tenants of landlords with several rental homes paid 7.1% more in 2023 than those renting from single-home owners. The report says the gap is real but small next to the wider rise in rents between 2019 and 2023.
