The majority of Spaniards own their own home (75.2), but renting is becoming increasingly popular (15.9).

Real estate ownership remains the main form of home ownership in Spain, but every decade in our country it loses its importance, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) in its daily survey of population and residential real estate. In 2021, 75.2% of Spanish households lived in their own home, compared to 78.9% in 2011, a decrease of 3.7 percentage points.

With 38.1% of Spaniards owning their own home having paid it off in full in 2021, the same as in 2011 (38.9%), that's around 7.1 million households. Meanwhile, the number of households with an outstanding mortgage on their own home fell by more than six percentage points to 26.4%, or in other words, 4.96''million households are living in 2021 in their own homes that they are still paying for.

In addition, the percentage of households owning their home by inheritance or donation rose most significantly to 10.7% of the total. This is an increase of 3.5 percentage points, with more than 2 million households owning inherited housing.

The percentage of households living in rented housing has risen to 15.9% of the total, up 2.4 percentage points from a decade ago and approaching 3 million dwellings. In addition, free or low-value housing remains stable at 2.8%, up from 2.4% in 2011. Other forms of tenure see an increase to 6.1% in 2021.

15.5% of households have a second home.

The INE data shows that the higher the income, the greater the percentage of households are owner-occupiers and the smaller the percentage living in rentals. In those households with a monthly net income of €5,000 or more, 82.8% live in their own housing, whether fully paid up or with''s mortgage on it, and only 10.6% live in rented housing.

In the lowest category with a monthly net income of less than €1,000, 20.4% live in rented housing and 49.3% own a home with uncovered payments or fully paid for.

Meanwhile, 15.5% of households owned a second home in 2021. However, in households with incomes of €5,000 or more, this percentage is 31.2%, while in those with incomes of less than €1,000 per month it is 10%.

Secondary housing is predominant among households with all family members who are nationals, at 94.2%, and among those with no family member with education, at 46.2%.