The new generation no longer wants a house: it wants flexible property.

If you are under 35 and live in a big city, you are probably familiar with this loop: you rent because buying is impossible, but renting does not give you any breathing room either. The result is a strange feeling of paying for something that does not build anything. It is not just a perception. In Spain, rents rose by 11.5% in 2024 and remain at historic highs, with cities such as Barcelona and Madrid already reaching price ranges that eat up a large part of the average salary. (El pais)

At the same time, home ownership has declined. Among those under 29, only around 26% live in their own home, compared to 54% in 2008. And for many young people, taking out a mortgage would mean allocating more than 60% of their monthly income to the mortgage payment. (Fundación la Caixa)

With these rules, it is not surprising that youth emancipation in Spain is at an all-time low: only 15.2% of young people were emancipated in the second half of 2024. (Idealista)

It's not that this generation doesn't want a home; it's that the market has closed both traditional doors to them.

This is not just about prices. It is about a deeper change in how a generation understands stability, investment and the very idea of home.

Two doors that have become narrow: renting and buying

For decades, the residential market was based on two clear options:

1. Rent to live flexibly without tying yourself down to debt.

2. Buying a home is a natural step towards stability and wealth.

Today, that dichotomy is broken.

• Renting is no longer temporary. In many areas, six out of ten rental properties cost more than €1,000 per month. (South) With wages failing to keep pace, renting is no longer a temporary solution but an indefinite destination.

• Buying requires conditions that most of the younger generation cannot meet. Not only because of the initial cost, but also because of the lifestyle discipline it entails: job stability, prior savings, staying in one city, and tolerance for debt.
  
  

This bottleneck is not unique to Spain. In the EU, the average age for leaving home remains above 26. (European Commission)

In this context, a third way emerges that is not a trend, but rather a logical adaptation.

The new generation wants stability, but not in the old way.

Here is the paradox: the same generation that is delaying home purchases is also the most aware of the need to build wealth. They simply do not want to do so using traditional models.

What we see in insights and recurring interviews is a clear demand:

• They want to invest without mortgaging themselves for life.

• They want stability without giving up mobility.

• They want ownership without taking it on alone.

• They want housing as a service, not as a burden.

It is not a lack of interest in housing. It is a mismatch between real life and market options. Their reality is marked by less linear jobs, more expensive cities, changing priorities and a different relationship with risk. Full ownership is no longer seen as the only symbol of success; it is often experienced as a loss of freedom.

This gives rise to a powerful idea: flexible ownership.

What is flexible property (and why it's not just a nice idea)

Flexible ownership essentially means decoupling housing from the rigid model of 100% purchase. It is not about giving up ownership. It is about redesigning it to better fit more dynamic lives and tighter economies.

In Europe, we are already seeing several formats growing:

• Co-ownership or shared ownership: several people purchase an asset with clear rights of use or profitability. The barrier to entry is low and the risk is shared. (Forbes)

  
  

• Hybrid models between living and investing: the user not only lives there, but also builds equity with each monthly payment, avoiding the feeling of throwing money away.

  
  

• Coliving, cohousing and modern cooperatives: not as disguised renting, but as a structure for progressive access, community and shared services.

  
  

• Intermediate financing: products that fall between mortgages and personal loans to facilitate partial or staggered purchases. (Deloitte) 

The interesting thing is that these models address the same three underlying issues:

1. Down payment.

2. Excessive debt for unstable lives.

3. Financial isolation: buying alone is too much.

It's no coincidence. It's the market trying to offer options again when the old system can no longer cope.

Why this is a real opportunity for corporations

Flexible property is not just a consumer trend. It is a new business territory for anyone involved in the housing ecosystem:

• Banks and insurance companies: they can design new financial products with lower individual risk and better suited to the actual cash flows of young people.

• Developers and asset managers: they can diversify demand without relying solely on traditional buyers. Today, Spain has one of the lowest levels of housing starts per capita in Europe, which puts even more pressure on access. (BBVA Research)

• Companies with young talent: housing has become part of the attraction and retention package. Flexible access models can be a strategic benefit, not just a one-off aid.

• Retail and cities: when housing becomes more service-oriented, new hubs of urban life, consumption, community and mobility emerge.

This type of change cannot be achieved through incremental improvement. It requires exploration through labs, prototyping and model validation. And that is where venture building is particularly useful: not only for identifying opportunities, but also for designing them from scratch with the market.

What we learn when we explore these models

When we have worked on similar challenges, from insights to labs, there are three frictions that always arise and that any new model must resolve:

• Trust and governance: If you share ownership, you need transparent, simple, and fair rules. Without that, there is no adoption.
  
  

• Operational management: People want flexibility, but they don't want to deal with conflicts, maintenance, or rentals. The model needs to be managed.
  
  

• Leaving is as important as entering: Flexible property must allow for real mobility. If you cannot easily sell your share or change its use, the system becomes rigid again.

These are not minor details: they are the conditions that turn a good idea into a scalable venture.

Conclusion

The new generation has not stopped wanting housing. It has stopped wanting it as it was offered before. In a context where renting does not build anything and buying demands too much, flexible ownership appears as the logical evolution: a way of combining stability with mobility, investment with use, and access with community.

For corporations, this transformation is not a threat, but rather an opportunity to design new business in one of Europe's most structurally tense sectors. And as always, the starting point is not bricks and mortar, but rather a thorough understanding of the user's real motivations.