The Spanish government is to present a new set of housing measures in parliament this July to combat the worsening property crisis, including benefits for renters and the imposition of VAT payments on all short-term accommodation owners.
Government spokesperson Elma Saiz on Monday announced that the new housing bill will be an “ambitious” plan to address the housing crisis in a “broad and inclusive” manner, and that it will incorporate proposals supported by various political groups.
The first part of the new plan is aimed at containing rental prices. It will include initiatives such as regulating temporary contracts, extending leases, requiring written contracts, combating rental fraud and offering income tax breaks to those who lower their rents.
The second is aimed at increasing the supply of affordable housing, which will include measures such as increasing the VAT rate on tourist accommodation to 21 percent.
Currently, owners of tourist apartments in Spain pay 0 percent VAT if they do not provide hotel services and 10 percent if they provide hotel services such as reception and regular cleaning.
The proposed increase, which would subject all short-term rentals to the 21 percent VAT rate, would mean applying the standard rate.
The bill could also include a possible extension of rental agreements, a measure which was approved three months ago by the government via decree, but then rejected in Congress by the PP, Vox, and Junts parties.
“A problem like housing can only be solved through agreement, and if there is any reason to reach an agreement, it is undoubtedly to address the public’s main concern,” sources from Moncloa Palace stated.
Regulations on seasonal and room rentals had been stalled in the Spanish Congress for two years, since being introduced by the lefties parties Esquerra Republicana and Sumar. This measure aims to get these proposals back on track.
Spanish Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun explained that the exact content of the decree is not completely finalised yet and that in coming weeks “there is room to continue talking with parliamentary groups”.
Pedro Sánchez’s government has already introduced many measures to try and combat the housing crisis, but so far none of them seem to have worked in practice; some even argue they’ve made the situation worse.
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Many measures were aimed at trying to encourage landlords to lower their prices, get empty properties back on the market, introduce rent caps and identify stressed areas, where the rents were the highest.
But housing prices and rents have continued spiralling across much of the country.
Young people in particular in Spain can’t access affordable housing and there is a huge deficit in the housing stock.
The Bank of Spain has calculated that there is a shortage of 750,000 homes across the country, 150,000 more than the figure it reported in 2024. This is because, while 240,000 households were created in Spain in 2025, only 92,000 homes were completed.
