Housing Stressed Zones in Spain: 2025 Update
What are stressed housing market areas?
Stressed residential market areas are those areas where there is particular difficulty in accessing housing in affordable conditions. Law 12/2023, of 24 May, on the right to housing, establishes the criteria for their declaration and regulates the measures that can be applied in them to limit the impact of real estate speculation and guarantee access to housing.
For an area to be declared a stressed area, it must meet at least one of the following conditions:
1. High economic effort: The average cost of the mortgage or rent, including basic expenses and supplies, exceeds 30% of the average income of the households in the area.
2. Strong price appreciation: The purchase or rental price of housing has increased by at least 3 percentage points above the CPI in the last five years.
Latest update of stressed areas (BOE - January 2025)
In accordance with the Resolution of 28 January 2025 of the Secretary of State for Housing and the Urban Agenda, published in BOE no. 26 of 30 January 2025, the areas declared as a stressed residential market during the fourth quarter of 2024 have been updated.
The declared areas are the same, except for the incorporation of the municipality of Errenteria (Basque Country).
Impact of the declaration of stressed areas
The declaration of an area as a stressed residential market makes it possible to apply specific measures to control the increase in rental prices and facilitate access to housing, such as:
- Price regulation in new rental contracts.
- Tax incentives for landlords renting below the reference price.
- Specific obligations for large landlords, which may include the transfer of housing for social renting.
In short, the January 2025 update reinforces the Government's commitment to price control and access to housing in areas with high market pressure. With the addition of Errenteria to the list of stressed areas, it is hoped that tenants in this municipality will be able to benefit from greater guarantees of stability and more controlled rental prices.
In the coming months, it is foreseeable that more municipalities will apply to be declared as stressed areas, which will make it necessary to closely monitor the evolution of these measures and their impact on the real estate sector.
| BOE-A-2023-12203-consolidado | 405 KB | ||
| BOE-A-2025-1721 | 200 KB |
