The growing population demand in certain urban centres, coupled with the shortage of housing and the difficult access to it, has allowed the Flex Living sector in Spain to experience dynamic growth in recent years. According to the report "The Flex Living market in Spain" by international real estate consultancy JLL, since 2019, this sector has accumulated more than 560 million euros in investment, 140 of which were transacted in 2023.
Despite the incipient institutional transactional activity, typical of a developing sector, there has been a significant increase in investment transactions through direct promotion or the formation of partnerships. This indicates that Flex Living is demonstrating its ability to generate stable cash flows, which will lead to the consolidation of players in the market and its consideration as a differentiated asset class.
Juan Manuel Pardo, Director of Living at JLL Spain, highlights that "In Spain we are facing a problem of shortage of beds both for rent and for sale. The Flex Living concept emerges as a solution to alleviate this imbalance, especially in areas with higher price pressure. Unlike other asset classes, Spain is leading the way in the production of Flex units, and we can say that Flex Living is here to stay.
In the coming years, significant transactional activity is expected, as the average period in which investment funds with exposure to the Flex sector in Spain hold this asset class in their portfolios is nearing completion.
Excluding land, developments and corporate/ M&A transactions (without 100% real estate collateral)
Drivers of demand
The difficulty in accessing home ownership in some areas and the growing number of single-person households - in the next 15 years the fastest growing housing typology in the country will be one or two-person households, reaching 6.5 million single-person households by 2037 - have driven demand for this type of asset to the point of positioning Spain as one of the fastest growing countries with a large number of projects to be developed in the next two years.
At European level, although other markets such as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have a more consolidated Flex Living sector, the fundamentals of the Spanish market are driving the sector's growth.
In fact, according to data compiled by JLL, there are more than 21,000 beds in the pipeline, with transactions between institutional funds underway or already executed. With these figures, Spain would consolidate its position as the third European country with the most beds in Flex Living assets in 2026, only surpassed by France and the United Kingdom.
Madrid concentrates most of the supply
With more than 6,000 beds in stock and close to 16,000 in the pipeline, Madrid is the province with the largest supply of Flex Living homes. Most of the current supply is located within the M-30 and is aimed at short stays, but future developments are planned for the outskirts of the capital and have, in most cases, more than 150 beds and a large number of services and amenities.
Barcelona has more than 2,200 beds and in the coming years around 2,600 new beds will be added, which are currently at different stages of development. With 1,100 beds in stock and more than 880 in the pipeline, Valencia closes the podium.
Guipúzcoa, with 646 existing beds and 693 planned; Málaga with 451 already developed and 636 in the pipeline and Vizcaya with 176 beds in active flex and 730 in the pipeline are other notable markets in Spain.
Main operators and owners
In terms of sector players, Greystar stands out with a large portfolio operated by Be Casa. Others such as Stoneshield and Bain Capital are also well represented in Madrid, the main market in Spain. On the other hand, Kora Living is developing assets throughout the peninsula and will operate around 1,700 beds in the next 3 years.
Smart Rental Group operates for third parties and has almost 1,500 beds in different modalities. FLIPCO, Livensa Studios, Cotown and the joint venture between Dazia and Aermont are other outstanding companies operating in the market.
