Housing crisis

Malaga city's housing shortage: nearly 20,000 people are signed up for social housing

Eight out of ten applicants registered with the city council prefer subsidised housing for rent or with an option to buy to eventually become homeowners

Malaga

21/05/2026 a las 10:10h.

Amid the ongoing housing crisis in Malaga city, the city council has updated the data in the register of applicants for subsidised housing (VPO) that ... it manages and in which anyone wishing to apply for social housing must be registered. Following a question from the Con Málaga municipal group that forms part of the council, the city's municipal housing institute has prepared a report that puts the number of VPO applicants in the Costa del Sol capital at nearly 20,000.

Specifically, there are 18,364 pending applications for this type of price-protected housing, of which 4,066 are active and 14,298 are pending renewal, according to data as of 31 December last year.

Of these nearly 19,000 applicants for a VPO, eight out of ten prefer to rent (36 per cent) or rent-to-buy (43 per cent). In terms of age, the majority (58 per cent) are between 35 and 50 years of age. Those under 35 account for 13.6 per cent.