Esade launches indicator to assess quality of decent housing in Spain and warns against precarious housing becoming the norm
The dearth of affordable housing, precarious housing and the lack of alternatives have transformed decent housing into a structural challenge in Spain. But decent housing is not just a physical space: it is also a place where people can be autonomous and control their own lives. As explained in the Esade report Indicador del Observatorio de la Vivienda Digna de Esade. Vivienda digna, más allá de un techo (“The Esade Decent Housing Observatory Indicator. Decent housing: not just four walls”), this decision-making capacity is crucial for bolstering the identity, well-being and well-rounded development of the individual.
The analysis by Esade’s Decent Housing Observatory, based on data from recent studies such as Provivienda’s (‘Prevención y atención de la exclusión residencial: Factores explicativos’, 2023), reveals that 5.6 million Spanish households (29.5% of families in Spain) do not have decent housing, i.e., housing that is affordable and ensures security, basic services and quality surroundings. Of these households, 3.2 million (17.6%) are already severely excluded from the housing market and 2.3 million (12.4%) are at risk of exclusion. Furthermore, in 2024 housing dissatisfaction reached its highest level since the crisis of 2008, with 62% of the population dissatisfied. Against this backdrop, Ignasi Martí, director of the Esade Institute for Social Innovation’s Decent Housing Observatory and co-author of the report, says that “decent housing is more than four walls: it’s the basis of a stable, healthy life. Without decent housing, inequality and social exclusion are perpetuated so we must urgently define what decent housing means and set out clear criteria to assess and improve housing conditions.”
Decent housing indicator
The Esade observatory has developed a Decent Housing Indicator, a comprehensive tool for assessing housing conditions on the basis of the fundamental factors of security, stability and affordability, along with key wellbeing issues. This approach lays the foundations for an assessment of housing in Spain whilst providing guidelines for policies intended to ensure decent, sustainable housing.
Factors are divided into two categories: essential factors, such as security in the home and community, tenure stability, affordability, access to basic services and quality surroundings; and important factors that improve the quality of life but are not decisive, such as connectivity, green areas, efficient public transport and adaptation to climate change.
Unlike the fitness for habitation certificate, this indicator examines four levels. Within the home, security and economic stability are essential, whilst privacy is important but not absolutely necessary. As for the housing itself, affordability and environmental quality are essential. In the community, safety for the community as a whole is crucial, whilst the neighborhood setting matters but is not decisive. As regards residential surroundings, access to basic services is imperative, whilst factors such as mobility and green areas enhance residents’ quality of life but are not essential.
Precarious housing becomes the norm
In the last decade, house prices have increased by 63% (according to the National Statistics Institute), while rent in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona have become unaffordable for much of the population. Furthermore, Spain has 2,5% of subsidized housing, a situation quite different from countries like Austria (20%) and the Netherlands (30%), according to data collected in Esade’s report based on Eurostat and the Housing Europe Observatory.
The report warns about precariousness becoming the norm: the lack of alternatives obliges many people to accept substandard conditions such as shared rooms or homes without basic services. This vulnerability affects young people and single-parent families in particular and aggravates inequality and social exclusion.
Urgent recommendations
Despite being enshrined in the Spanish Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, decent housing is not treated like a universal right in Spain. The fallout of this goes beyond housing itself: the report reveals that 40% of people suffering from severe residential exclusion have anxiety or depression, hence the need for urgent action.
The Observatory recommends an increase in subsidized housing in line with EU models, and rent caps to ensure affordable prices and stop speculation. It also recommends incorporating the Decent Housing Indicator into public policy in order to assess housing conditions better and roll out effective responses.
About the Decent Housing Observatory
The Decent Housing Observatory, promoted by the Esade Institute of Social Innovation in collaboration with Fotocasa, Leroy Merlin and Neinor Homes, works to generate knowledge and solutions related to housing issues in Spain. Its mission is to foster the acknowledgement of housing as a fundamental right, and analyze housing issues from a social, international and cross-sector approach, whilst sparking discussion and reflection to drive structural changes in this sector.
