ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses housing policy and construction in Spain in the post war era. It focuses on the immediate post-war, when the early state Housing Acts were approved, the housing deficit grew and construction figures remained low. The chapter examines the new era of housing policy dating from the passing of the 1954 Housing Act is private sector construction increased rapidly, first relying upon the support of State subsidies and then boomed in the non-aided sector. It looks at the decline of production in the seventies and the unsuccessful attempts of post-Franco Governments to introduce a new loan system for house buyers. Spain entered the post-war era with an acute housing shortage in its major cities and in the rural regions devastated in the Civil War. In July 1976, the 'social' Housing Act was approved, whereby the new category of 'social housing' was introduced to replace 'Group II housing' as defined in the 1954 Housing Act.
