Housing news, 6 October 2026

Edition of Tuesday, 6 October 2026

What happened

Monday, 5 October 2026

Vallès

Rejection of housing decrees stirs local politics in the Vallès

The rejection of the housing decrees has had immediate effects on local politics in the Vallès. In Sant Cugat, Arran and the Sindicat de Llogateres claimed responsibility for an action at the Junts office, with graffiti and rubbish at the entrance and messages against the party. In Terrassa, Tot per Terrassa acknowledged unease over Junts’ vote and said it would assess possible scenarios within the municipal group, while Junts argued that it brings stability and work to the local government.

The housing decrees were national measures affecting sensitive areas such as rents and evictions. Their rejection has put pressure on parties that share municipal governments but hold different positions in Congress.

For landlords and tenants, the immediate effect is not an automatic change to contracts. It does show that housing regulation will remain a major political fault line and may shape future rules.

Vallès

Matadepera appears as a cheaper housing market than Barcelona

An Idealista price analysis places Matadepera, in the Vallès area, among the municipalities where housing costs less than in Barcelona.

Barcelona

Barcelona housing protest draws thousands and ends with police charges

Thousands of people marched in Barcelona to demand action on the housing crisis and to back a call for a general strike. Cerdanyola, in the Vallès area, also joined the mobilisation. At the end of the march, bins were set alight, barricades were reported, there were clashes with the Mossos d'Esquadra, the Catalan police, police charges and several arrests.

Barcelona event looks at renting through fear and uncertainty

Writer Llucia Ramis, notary Camino Quiroga and Amat Immobiliaris vice-president Joana Amat took part in an event on renting at Espai Texas in Barcelona. The discussion centred on fears, uncertainty and hopes linked to housing.

Catalonia

Healthcare workers protest against evictions

Staff from primary care centres and hospitals mobilised against evictions and the consequences of the housing crisis.

Spain

Sánchez renews push for housing decrees after calling an election

Pedro Sánchez revived the housing decrees in the context of the election call and the dissolution of Spain's parliament. The measures concern issues such as evictions and rents.

UGT and CCOO agree to call a general strike over the housing crisis

UGT and CCOO, Spain's two main trade unions, agreed to call a general strike this autumn over the housing crisis, with the date still to be set. They have taken up the proposal from the Tenants' Union, already backed by CGT, and link the protest to the need for wages that allow access to decent housing.

Spain

Judge rules some Sareb social rent clauses abusive

A Madrid court has sided with a tenant and the PAH housing campaign group in Vallecas, finding some clauses in Sareb's social rental contracts abusive. The ruling points to a lack of transparency and an imbalance where Sareb, Spain's state-backed bad bank, can unilaterally change prices if a tenant is no longer classed as vulnerable.

Spain

Supreme Court backs withholding large landlords' identities over squatting risk

Spain's Supreme Court has upheld withholding the identity of large housing owners where there is a real and foreseeable risk to public safety. The ruling says that in Catalonia 82% of squatting cases affect properties owned by large landlords.

Spain

Banco Sabadell moves ahead with the sale of Sogeviso

Banco Sabadell is progressing with the sale of Sogeviso, its subsidiary for managing affordable rental housing. The deal concerns a company linked to Spain's social and affordable rental stock.

Spain

Alicante housing camp to continue despite snap election

Organisers of the housing protest camp in Alicante say they will keep the mobilisation going despite the snap election. They say they will continue until they obtain a real solution and aim to build towards a general strike.

Spain

Analysis questions whether building more homes is enough to solve the crisis

An analysis article argues that increasing construction alone will not solve the housing crisis. It calls for a combination of public and affordable housing with tax and regulatory measures to limit the use of homes as investment assets.

Spain

Opinion piece raises the idea of removing housing taxes

An opinion piece proposes opening a debate on scrapping taxes linked to housing. It frames the proposal within the Spanish government's handling of the housing crisis.

International

Average five-year fixed mortgage rate reaches 6% in the UK

The average rate on new five-year fixed mortgages in the UK has reached 6% for the first time in three years. The increase follows several weeks of rising costs for lenders.

Charity helps low-income households in Brittany improve their homes

In Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany, the Compagnons bâtisseurs association works on homes affected by insanitary conditions, fuel poverty or poor adaptation to residents' needs. The aim is to ease housing difficulties for low-income households.

International

French social organisations warn against weakening enforceable housing rights

Three figures from the non-profit sector argue in an opinion piece that France's housing revival bill could weaken rights created by the DALO law. They say this is not the time to dilute the enforceable right to housing for people in poor housing or without a home.

International

Catherine Sabbah criticises the low profile of housing in France's campaign

Catherine Sabbah, head of the Idheal think tank, argues in an opinion piece that housing rarely features prominently in election programmes or presidential debates. She says housing policy reflects the kind of society being proposed.

Figure of the day

RENT · PROVINCE OF BARCELONA

The average rent signed across the province is €997 a month

16,594 contracts with a deposit lodged this quarter, across 38 municipalities.

997€/month

The average contracted rent across the province of Barcelona is €997 a month. That's not what's asked for in listings: it's 16,594 contracts with the deposit already lodged with INCASÒL this quarter.

The average hides a wide spread. Among the 38 municipalities with data, the most expensive square metre is in Sant Cugat and the cheapest in Manresa: a 224% gap on purchase price.

A standard residential lease runs five years if the landlord is a private individual and seven if it's a company, with rent updated against the index published by Spain's statistics institute (INE).

Buying that same 80 m² flat costs €273,100: 22.8 years of rent.

Barcelona and much of its metropolitan area are designated a stressed residential market zone. On a flat that was already rented before, that caps how much the new contract's rent can rise over the previous one — it's not a rare exception, it affects most of the flats on offer in the province today.

What actually protects a landlord isn't the asking price, it's who gets handed the keys: a verified payslip, a checked payment history and a properly drafted contract head off most problems before they start. Raising the rent by €20 and losing three months to arrears doesn't pay off.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026 · 38 municipalities in the province of Barcelona. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Today's figures

Mollet · Yield

Buy-to-let in Mollet yields 4.4% gross

A €196,200 purchase against €8,652 a year in rent.

4.4%

An 80 m² flat in Mollet is valued at €196,200, and its average rent is €721 a month — €8,652 a year. That works out to a gross yield of 4.4%.

Gross means before anything else: council tax (IBI), community fees, insurance, one-off building charges, income tax on the rent, and any months the flat sits empty. Net yield lands well below that.

It's the 9th most of the twelve municipalities in the area. Worth distrusting the shortcut of always going for the highest yield: high yield tends to travel with low prices, and low prices with weaker rental demand and higher turnover.

The figure is for comparing municipalities against each other, not for deciding on a purchase. A specific flat can yield well above or well below its city's average.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Santa Perpètua de Mogoda · Comparison

Santa Perpètua de Mogoda and Mollet cost practically the same

The two towns, same sources, same quarter.

EQUAL

An 80 m² flat is valued at €198,000 in Santa Perpètua de Mogoda and €196,200 in Mollet. The gap doesn't reach 5%.

On rent they're nearly level: Santa Perpètua de Mogoda yields 4.5% gross and Mollet 4.4%.

On rent, Santa Perpètua de Mogoda signs at €745 a month and Mollet at €721: a €24 gap across 191 deposit-lodged contracts between the two.

Comparing towns is useful for orientation, not for pricing. Within a single town, the gap between neighbourhoods is usually bigger than the one between these two.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026 · resale housing. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Granollers · Affordability

Granollers needs 20.4 years of rent to buy a flat

How many years of rent equal the purchase price, before interest or fees.

20.4years

An 80 m² flat in Granollers is valued at €202,100. Rented at €826 a month, that generates €9,912 a year — so buying equals 20.4 years of rent.

It's the mirror image of yield: the more years, the more expensive buying is relative to renting. It doesn't include mortgage interest, purchase taxes, or renovation costs, all of which push the figure higher.

As a reference point, Spain's national average has historically moved between 15 and 25 years depending on the cycle.

Granollers is the 5th most expensive of the twelve municipalities in the area, and the 6th most expensive to rent. Where those two rankings don't match is where the opportunities tend to sit.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Barcelona · Sale price

An 80 m² flat in Barcelona is valued at €374,000

The reference value of resale housing in Barcelona stands at €4,675 per square metre.

374,000€

Resale housing in Barcelona has an average appraised value of €4,675/m². For an 80 m² flat, that comes to €374,000.

The figure isn't drawn from listing prices: it comes from 5,384 real appraisals carried out in the municipality this quarter and collected by Spain's Ministry of Housing.

Appraised value is the conservative benchmark a bank uses to grant a mortgage. The price a sale actually completes at tends to run higher, and a city-wide average captures neither the floor, the lift, nor the state of the kitchen.

New-build homes are valued at €5,150/m², 10% above resale.

Among the twelve municipalities this paper tracks, Barcelona is the 2nd most expensive to buy in.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana, Primer trimestre de 2026 · 5,384 appraisals. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

The market, municipality by municipality

Municipality	80 m² flat	Rent	Yield
Sant Cugat	402,900 €	1,476 €	4.4 %
Barcelona	374,000 €	1,137 €	3.6 %
Cerdanyola	233,500 €	906 €	4.7 %
Barberà	206,800 €	857 €	5.0 %
Granollers	202,100 €	826 €	4.9 %
Ripollet	198,400 €	751 €	4.5 %
Santa Perpètua de Mogoda	198,000 €	745 €	4.5 %
Mollet	196,200 €	721 €	4.4 %
Rubí	196,100 €	816 €	5.0 %
Sabadell	193,700 €	869 €	5.4 %
Montcada i Reixac	184,800 €	663 €	4.3 %
Terrassa	183,200 €	765 €	5.0 %

Appraised value of resale housing (Ministry of Housing) and average rent from contracts with a deposit lodged (INCASÒL). Gross yield is annual rent over purchase price, before council tax, community fees, insurance, other taxes and vacant months.

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