Cáritas says 50.6% of Spanish renters lack the income to access their homes

Half of renters are priced out

The Cáritas Española and Fundación FOESSA report, titled La vivienda imposible, was presented on Wednesday, 28 October 2026. Its central finding is that 50.6% of people who rent would not have enough income to access that same home, because no rent would stay under the 30% effort threshold of their resources. The report says the same squeeze blocks buying, with seven in ten renters unable to obtain the financing needed for a purchase. Households that fail these tests are pushed toward rooms, subletting, informal arrangements or homes in poor condition. The report names young households, single-parent families, migrants, households with low work intensity and those with insufficient or variable incomes as the most exposed.

Room rentals and legal insecurity

Cáritas counted 266,435 people it assisted in 2025, one in four of those it helped, who had turned to renting rooms as a housing solution. Thomas Ubrich, a sociologist on the FOESSA technical committee, said room renting has become one of the means used by families pushed out of the ordinary market, often under weak or informal contracts and with a tendency to drag on. Cáritas warned that informal subletting carries serious consequences, starting with legal insecurity, because such arrangements usually have no formal lease. María González Dyne, secretary general of Cáritas Española, framed the problem in wider terms:

“The current crisis of access to and maintenance of housing represents a structural barrier for millions of people.”

She also pointed to a deep and unsustainable mismatch between market prices, household incomes and a shortage of affordable social housing options.

Mortgages and the rental supply

Mortgage demand is falling too. El País, citing European Central Bank data, reports that mortgage applications in Spain dropped 40%, compared with 30% in the previous quarter and 27% across the euro area. Higher official interest rates are behind the costlier loans, and banks have raised the cost of arranging a mortgage without tightening their requirements on clients. The same reporting expects a further tightening over the next three months.

Spain, latest quarter40%

Spain, previous quarter30%

Euro area average27%

Spain, latest quarter

40 %

Spain, previous quarter

30 %

Euro area average

27 %

Data from the article text

On the supply side, Rosa Gallego, chief executive of Q-Living, spoke at the Renta Housing Forum organised by Grupo Planner. She said her company is not signing new rental contracts until it sees how the decree is handled, and she described a "perfect storm" of regulatory hostility, rising interest rates and the withdrawal of institutional capital.

“I am not signing contracts until we see what happens with the approval of the decree.”

Javier Rodríguez-Heredia, managing partner of Azora, at the same forum called the situation a "housing emergency" and proposed a 15-year state pact to take land management out of the electoral cycle.

Public figures and protests

Journalist Marc Giró, 52, used his laSexta programme Cara al show to argue that small landlords are not the main story. He said his landlord raised his rent by 300 euros at a contract renewal, and he cited Banco de España data showing that 92% of rentals belong to private individuals, with 76% of those landlords owning one rental home and 15% owning two. Gabriel Rufián, ERC spokesperson in Congress, told Salvados that from the third home onward one can already speak of accumulation or speculation. Actress Amparo Larrañaga, 63, said on TVE's Sukha that her 27-year-old son, who joined the camp in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, cannot afford a flat despite having a job.

“He is there because, even with what he earns, he cannot rent a flat. That is his big problem.”

Strike and saving advice

The housing debate has moved onto the streets after a widely reported eviction, and a general strike has been called for 11 November. According to the same reporting, CIS polling has ranked housing access as the main concern of Spaniards for 22 months. Montse Cespedosa, a mortgage consultant, said on the podcast Tengo un Plan that many people can no longer buy or pay the prevailing prices. She urged buyers to cut spending on holidays, pricey phones and drinks, and to park savings in deposits or funds.