The housing crisis

The inheritance gap: more than half of Catalans will not inherit any property.

The priority measure for the population is the construction of public housing, followed by limiting tourist apartments.

Cohousing: A New Way to Share a Home
04/07/2025
2 min

BarcelonaWhat do Catalans think about the construction of 50,000 public housing units and the rent cap? How many of them want to buy a home? This article explores Catalan housing preferences in depth.

"Last week's survey was about inequality. In the case of housing, which is the big issue and will continue to be, ideas are being offered as to why it will continue to be so. We want to go beyond the political debates we have," she explains in statements to the "The survey complements the housing responses from the penultimate omnibus survey, which asked respondents to choose between two different public policies: the construction of public housing (85%), followed by limiting tourist apartments (74%). Then, in the same proportion (71%), they support three policies: regulating rents, mandating social rentals, and direct rental subsidies.

Polítiques públiques amb les quals els catalans estan més d’acord

The survey also asks Catalans about a topic that has recently been a topic of public debate: how many Catalans will inherit a home? According to the CEO, 55% of Catalan citizens will not inherit any homes, 27% could inherit part of them, and 12% an entire home. 4% of respondents say they could inherit two or more homes. The percentage of people who say they will inherit a home is very evenly distributed across age groups: among those aged 16 to 24, 35.4% could inherit; among those aged 25 to 34, 29.7%; among those aged 35 to 49, 35.9%; and among those aged 50 to 64, 29.8%. Logically, this figure plummets for those over 65, falling to 7.6%.

Creieu que podríeu heretar algun habitatge en el futur?

Buying to do business, the cause of the crisis

What has contributed most to the rise in housing prices in Catalonia? The CEO now addresses this with pairs of questions. The interest in buying homes for rent or business (59.4%) exceeds the interest of high-net-worth foreigners (36.5%), and the increase in tourist apartments (60.1%) also exceeds the lack of new housing construction (36.2%).

Fins a quin punt està d’acord amb la idea que l'habitatge és un recurs econòmic que es compra i es ven lliurement al mercat?

Housing: a right or an asset?

While the idea that housing should be a guaranteed right, as established by the Constitution, is widespread in the current debate on the housing crisis, the CEO survey delves deeper into this conception.

57% of Catalans believe that housing cannot be considered solely an economic resource that is freely bought and sold on the market, but 32% say that it is a resource, but that it should be subject to some regulations. 10% believe it is an economic resource from which an economic profit should be made, like any other product. However, 63% of Catalans believe that private property should always be respected, with very few exceptions, while only 33% believe that it is preferable to impose restrictions on property rights whenever appropriate to guarantee other rights or political priorities.

Half a million young people are considering buying a home.

Three out of four people consider owning a home an "important life goal." The age group is one million, meaning at least 500,000 young people.

"As it will be impossible to meet demand, housing will become an asset, creating a social divide that will determine the future of society. Housing cannot be built due to the demand that may exist," Rodríguez emphasizes.

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