In this paper we will analyse the relationship between the expenditures of owning and renting housing. We will also analyse this relationship when the housing user is eligible for government assistance with special reference to Spain. What we will try to demonstrate is that in certain conditions of high rates of inflation and high mortgage rates, rental housing may be more expensive than home ownership in constant monetary terms. The user of housing must pay housing expenditures on occasion with government assistance through the governmentÌs social housing policy, where higher expenditure for the same degree of accessibility means higher government expenditure. Therefore, for the same economic effort on the part of the user, if the trend is towards higher expenditures, the greater government assistance will be required. Apart from a lack of financial resources, there are several situations where renting is preferable, and may even be more desirable, compared to purchasing for the users and society.