EXPLAINED: How Spain's Andalusia plans to tackle its housing crisis

In 2024, Andalusia's regional president Juanma Moreno first announced that the southern region would have its own Housing Law to try and solve the housing crisis in the region of 8.6 million people.

Almost a year later on Wednesday September 10th, the Andalusian government finally presented the preliminary draft of this new bill at the Governing Council, where it will begin the parliamentary process for it to be approved.

According to Moreno, there's a shortage of between 150,000 and 200,000 homes.

"It's unsustainable, both socially and economically. It's terrible that young people and families can't access a basic and fundamental right. They've lost the right to live in their city, in their town ; they can't afford it because there's no housing," Moreno lamented.

Several housing measures have already been implemented in Andalusia to help solve the housing situation including the Ley Lista (List Law), which has eliminated some bureaucracy, helped to increase social housing units from 3,000 to the 13,000 in six years, and offered tax cuts to tens of thousands of Andalusian renters and homeowners.

However, this has not been enough to solve the region's housing woes, hence the need for more legislation.

Andalusia’s new Housing Law focus on building more housing by freeing up more land, providing greater housing security, and facilitating access with simpler administrative processes.

Here are five of the main aims of the legislation:

Build 20,000 social housing units in five years

The flagship measure is to promote the construction of 20,000 social rental units over the next five years.

To this end, collaboration with private developers will be encouraged, subsidized rental prices will be capped, public land will be made available, and banks will coordinate to offer affordable loans to developers.

Locate as much land as possible to build on

Another key measure is to create an inventory of all the available plots of land where construction can take place in the southern region, with the aim once more of increasing the amount of social housing in Andalusia to at least 25 percent social housing in all municipalities.

This 'land bank' will be managed by the regional government and will include public and private land that can be rezoned or transferred into public hands for this purpose. For example, this could include reclassifying non-buildable plots into buildable plots.

Private owners will be incentivized to grant land to Andalusian authorities in exchange for tax benefits or the participation in projects.

Simplify bureaucracy of building

It's a well known fact that in Spain, often it takes longer to get the paperwork to begin construction than it does to actually complete a building.

"We need to provide legal certainty, simplify bureaucratic procedures, ease tax pressure, and facilitate the sale of apartments,” Moreno stated.

The draft legislation contemplates the repeal of outdated or contradictory regulations that hinder the implementation of housing projects.

Andalusia's PP government wants a more streamlined, flexible legal framework adapted to the realities of the current Spanish property market and the needs of its people.

Turn commercial spaces into homes

Moreno's administration also wants to convert commercial spaces into protected housing.

This would include tourist accommodation, offices, gyms or student residences, but never buildings or plots intended for educational or healthcare purposes.

Creation of a new social housing website

A new social housing portal will be created, designed to provide citizens with "more information and transparency" about available social housing, location, and price.

Spain's Housing Ministry also recently outlined plans to create an online search engine in the style of Idealista to provide affordable rental properties via its new public housing company.