Building housing is necessary but not sufficient.

Housing is an issue that has gained prominence among citizens' concerns in recent years. Increasingly high prices due to a supply that doesn't keep up with demand and a shrinking and extremely expensive rental market shape the current landscape. And it has fueled discontent among an increasing number of citizens, especially younger ones. Governments, which for many years have left the functioning of the housing market in the hands of the free market, are now rushing to solve a problem that takes time: a housing stock isn't built overnight. The trend so far has led us to levels of public and/or subsidized housing that place us at the bottom of the European list.

It's good that there are starting to be initiatives in an area where the autonomous communities and city councils have a lot to say, especially regarding land, one of the essential elements for promoting a supply that follows the path dictated by demand.

In Catalonia, the government has taken some steps, such as express permits to avoid having to wait before starting to move land to build social housing; an extension until at least 2027 to prevent 36,000 social housing units from being transferred to the open market; and the expansion of the circumstances in which the government can exercise the right of first refusal and redemption. These measures are included in a decree that was approved. in extremis in Parliament at the beginning of this month and which are part of the strategy of Salvador Illa's executive.

It is within this context that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the allocation of €1.3 billion from the European Next Generation Fund to promote industrialized construction as a way to increase supply in a more technological, safe, efficient, and sustainable manner. One of the market's needs is to increase supply more quickly and efficiently, while also respecting the environment. This approach could bring some 15,000 homes to the market each year, and more than 20,000 within ten years, according to Spanish government estimates.

And one of the variables that the housing market needs is affordability, that is, a supply with prices more appropriate to the average income level of citizens, avoiding the risk of the object of one of the rights recognized by the Constitution (the right to decent housing) becoming a luxury item, accessible only to people and only to people and.

The latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) indicate that mortgage prices are continuing to fall, and banks expect this to continue in the coming months, since, barring any sharp changes in geopolitics, the European Central Bank (ECB) still has some interest rate cuts left. But what is, in principle, positive news only serves to pressure demand. And, given that supply is still not growing sufficiently, we will have to get our act together to increase the number of homes, and especially in the places where they are truly needed. Industrialization of housing may help, but it will likely not be enough.