Franco turned Spain's renters into owners, but the PSOE has reversed it

The Obra Sindical del Hogar was a Francoist body that built affordable housing in Spain between 1940 and 1977. Today, affordable housing is a regional responsibility and accounts for only a small share of the total housing stock.

The Obra Sindical del Hogar was the body that, within the Franco regime's syndical structure, built affordable housing in Spain between 1940 and 1977. Its output was enormous in relative terms: much of the housing blocks in working-class neighbourhoods built before 1980 came from it, and they were identified by a plaque bearing the yoke and arrows. That plaque has been removed from many façades under Spain's 2007 Historical Memory Law, which orders the removal of regime symbols.

## From tenant to owner: what changed with affordable housing

Before the Civil War, renting was the dominant form of housing access in Spanish cities, including for the middle classes. Francoist affordable housing, and later the policies of the sixties and seventies, pushed towards ownership: developments were sold in instalments to their occupants. That shift explains why Spain today has one of the highest homeownership rates in Europe, at around **75%** of the residential stock according to the latest data from the Banco de España. In the Netherlands, by contrast, renting still carries far more weight: ownership stands at around **57%**.

## The affordable housing that remains and who builds it

Affordable housing did not disappear: it changed form. After powers were transferred to the regions, each autonomous community sets its own requirements and developments. The problem is one of volume: the construction of new affordable housing has been running well below demand for years, and Spain's public rental stock is among the smallest in the OECD, below **2%** of the total compared with averages above **6%** in the eurozone. Successive national housing plans have failed to restore the pace of the sixties and seventies.

## Inheritance, renting and the market ahead

Inheriting a home remains a central route into ownership in Spain: inherited property is not subject to income tax (IRPF) for the heir in most cases, though inheritance tax does apply depending on the region. Selling an inherited home and being unable to buy another with the proceeds is a real situation in high-price areas, and it pushes people into renting. That is where supply comes in: if not enough is built, competition for the few homes available pushes up prices both for buying and for renting.

## What the narrative does not hold up

The idea that there is a plan to expropriate homes and turn owners into tenants has no basis in current legislation: expropriation requires a public-interest justification and a regulated procedure. The housing policy of recent governments has focused on mobilising public land and on the 2023 national housing law, which allows the declaration of stressed areas. That does not turn anyone into a tenant by decree, but it does not build homes either. And without construction, the debate over who owned a home in 1960 does not pay the rent of 2026.