The majority of Spaniards (75.2) own their own homes, but there is a growing proportion of renting (15.9).

Proprietorship is still the main form of home ownership in Spain, but each ten-year study by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), published in each "Population and Housing Sample", shows that its importance in our country is gradually decreasing. In 2021, 75.2% of Spanish households lived in their own home, compared to 78.9% recorded in 2011, a decrease of 3.7 percentage points.

About 38.1% of Spanish households owning a property had paid it off in full in 2021, roughly the same as in 2011 (38.9%), that is, about 7.1 million households. While the number of households with properties on which a mortgage remains outstanding has fallen by more than''six percentage points to 26.4% or 4.96 million households who lived in their own home in 2021 and continue to pay rent.

In addition, the percentage of households who own their own home by inheritance or gift rose the most dramatically, accounting for 10.7% of the total. This is an increase of 3.5 percentage points over the 2 million inherited households.

This has led to an increase in the percentage of households living in rented accommodation to 15.9% of the total, up 2.4 percentage points from a decade ago and estimated at almost 3 million dwellings. In addition, the number of free or low-cost homes remains stable at 2.8%, up from 2.4% in 2011. The category''other forms of tenure are seen rising to 6.1% in 2021.

As INE notes, "the size of the municipality also determines the form of home ownership, which maintains the same trend as in 2011.

15.5% of households have a second home.

The INE data shows that the higher the income, the higher the percentage of households owning a home, and the lower the percentage living in rented housing. In those households with a net monthly income of €5,000 or more, 82.8% live in their own dwelling, be it''fully paid off or with existing mortgage debt, and only 10.6% rents. In the lowest category with a net monthly income of less than €1,000, 20.4% live in rented accommodation and 49.3% own their own home with arrears or have paid it off in full.

15.5% of households in 2021 had a second home.

This percentage is 31.2% in households with incomes of €5,000 or more, while in those with incomes of less than €1,000 per month the percentage is 10%. Second homes are prevalent among households where all members are citizens, at 94.2%, and among those where no member is educated, at 46.2%.

I have been working at news.idealista since 2015, specializing in data journalism,''international market and sustainable architecture. I have a degree in Information Sciences from Complutense University in Madrid and before joining idealista I worked in communications in organizations such as FIFA, World Rugby and FER.