LANDLORDS in Spain are hurriedly pulling homes from the rental market, experts warn, in what threatens to worsen the country’s ongoing housing crisis.
Property owners have removed 4,235 listings nationwide over the past 10 days alone, according to the National Federation of Real Estate Associations (FAI).
FAI experts fear the trend could cause the number of rental deals across Spain to fall by a staggering 25% to 30% in the coming weeks, as landlords withdraw properties from the market or switch to other uses.
It could make finding a home even harder for thousands of people already struggling to secure somewhere to live.
Speaking to The Objective, FAI president Jose Maria Alfaro attributed the development to a housing decree passed last week by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government.
Sanchez’s legislation, which is aimed at protecting vulnerable tenants nationwide, includes caps on rent increases, two-year contract extensions for eligible tenants and restrictions on property purchases by investment groups.
Property experts, including Alfaro, believe the measures are discouraging landlords from putting their homes up for rent, as smaller property owners fear becoming locked into burdensome contracts.
The FAI data was collected through a survey of 600 real estate agencies in Spain’s major cities.
A staggering 78% of respondents said clients had asked them to remove long-term rental listings, offering the properties for sale, as holiday lets or as room rentals instead.
The FAI study also found that more than 1,500 rental agreements due to be signed had been temporarily put on hold as landlords took time to consider their options.
The bleak development comes amid widespread housing protests across Spain, with thousands of people taking to the streets to demand access to affordable homes.
Rents and property prices have been soaring for years as Spain struggles with a crippling housing shortage, with the Bank of Spain estimating the gap between supply and demand could reach one million homes by 2028.
The protests prompted Sanchez to bring forward Spain’s next general election, originally scheduled for the summer of 2027, to November 29, with housing now a key issue in parties’ campaigns.
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