Social services –the fourth pillar of social welfare– are part of the backbone of social policies in autonomous communities as a whole, based on the areas of authority set out in the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The first laws on social services at regional level marked the beginning of the public system of social services, which is still in its early stages even today. These laws addressed aspects ranging from the action and management model, in which social work has been an essential part, to the sectors and areas to be considered for intervention, including a very basic approach to housing, primarily as a basic benefit incorporated in the Plan Concertado (or subsidised plan).
More than a quarter of a century after the first social services law approved in 1982 by the autonomous community of the Basque Country, this article conducts a review and sets out a detailed overview of what has been and still is the manner in which housing is addressed when legislating, taking into consideration the laws that have been approved by the various autonomous communities to date along these lines.
