Update: Annual increase on rental ch
For 2025 in Spain, the government has replaced the Consumer Price Index (IPC) as the reference for rent increases with a new system called the Índice de Actualización de Rentas de Arrendamiento de Vivienda (IRAV). Starting January 1, 2025, this new index caps annual rent increases at 2.2%, down from the previous cap of 3% in 2024. This limit applies to residential rental agreements signed after May 25, 2023. The change is part of broader efforts to stabilise the housing market and provide predictability for both landlords and tenants.
A rent increase can only be applied if the rental contract includes a clause allowing for updates or revisions to the rent during the contract’s duration. According to Spanish rental law, without such a clause, the rent remains fixed for the duration of the contract.
Housing law: what does it regulate and how does it work?
8.1.2025
The Law for the Right to Housing develops the right enshrined in the Constitution to decent housing. It seeks to help those groups with more difficulties in accessing this property with measures such as the limit on the price of rent or the promotion of public housing.
The bill for the Right to Housing was approved by the Council of Ministers on February 1, 2022, by Congress on April 27, 2023 and definitively by the Senate on May 17. On May 25, Law 12/2023, of May 24, for the Right to Housing was published in the BOE. This is one of the reforms included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which includes other housing rehabilitation and urban regeneration projects.
The law includes measures to increase the supply of affordable housing, prevent situations of tension in the rental market and support young people and vulnerable groups in accessing housing.
It also offers autonomous communities and municipalities different tools that will contribute to containing or reducing the price of rent and increasing the social rental housing stock.
Promotion of public housing
Regulation of public housing parks to avoid sales operations to investment funds.
Indefinite qualification of protected housing to always guarantee a period of at least 30 years.
Minimum percentage of 50% for rental housing within the reserve land for protected housing and increase in the percentages of land reserve for protected housing, from 30 to 40% on buildable land, and from 10 to 20% on non-consolidated urban land.
Preparation and maintenance of an inventory of the public housing stock.
Limits on the rental price
One of the objectives of the Housing Law is to contain the rise in rental prices. To this end, it provides for the creation of a State Reference System of the Price of Housing Rental that offers information on the cost of rent in each residential area, thus providing transparency and competitiveness to the rental market. In addition, the law contemplates a series of more specific measures to contain prices:
Tax benefits for landlords that facilitate affordable access to rent. They will be able to benefit from a 90% reduction in rental returns if prices drop by 5% in tense residential market areas. There are also other reductions linked to the realization of improvement works, the rental to young people or the adherence to incentive or protected affordable housing programs.
Declaration of stressed residential market areas for a period of 3 years, extendable annually, to be able to apply rent reduction measures.
Maximum annual increase in rent, from 2025 according to the Reference Index for the Update of Housing Leases (called IRAV), defined by the National Institute of Statistics to avoid disproportionate increases in the income of contracts.
In areas declared as stressed:
Large owners may not sign new rents with prices higher than the Reference Index for their area, nor with increases higher than the maximum update increase allowed with respect to the price of the previous contract.
For small owners, increases in new contracts may only be of the percentage of annual update allowed on the price of the previous contract. In addition, the rental of homes that have not been leased in the last 5 years may be limited to the maximum price marked by the Reference Index.
The possibility of extraordinary extension is introduced for the lessee after the end of the contract, for annual periods and for a maximum period of three years.
Improvements to strengthen the balance in relations between landlord and tenant
Extraordinary extension of one year in leases for accredited situations of social or economic vulnerability.
Real estate management expenses and formalization of the contract at the expense of the lessor (for example, the commission or the fees of the real estate agency).
Protection against evictions
Improvements to ensure effective communication between the judicial body and social services that thus achieves rapid attention to people in vulnerable situations.
Housing solutions for those affected and, while these solutions arrive, extension of the deadlines for suspension of launches.
Where the plaintiff is a large owner and the eviction claim affects vulnerable persons, the application of a conciliation or intermediation procedure must be proven.
New definition of large owner and empty housing
Those owners of more than 10 properties may be considered “big holders”. In addition, this consideration may be extended to the owners of 5 or more residential properties located in the same area declared as stressed, when requested by the autonomous community.
Definition of “empty housing” so that city councils can apply the Real Estate Tax (IBI) surcharge to those homes that have been empty for more than 2 years, and provided that the owner has a minimum of 4 homes in this situation.
Modulation of the IBI surcharge (currently located at 50% of the net IBI quota), which may reach 150%.
Translation from the information provided by the Spanish parliament.
Computer generated translation to the law in full.
ORIGINAL TEXT
PHILIP VI
KING OF SPAIN
To all who see and understand this.
Be it known: That the Cortes Generales have approved and I hereby sanction the following law:
INDEX
Preamble.
Preliminary title. General provisions.
Article 1. Purpose of the law.
Article 2. Purposes of public housing policies.
Article 3. Definitions.
Article 4. Services of general interest.
Article 5. Public action.
Article 6. Principle of equality and non-discrimination in housing.
Title I. Social function and legal regime of housing.
Article 7. Guiding principles for guaranteeing the social function of housing.
Chapter I. Basic Statute of the Citizen.
Article 8. Citizens’ rights in relation to housing.
Article 9. Duties of citizens in relation to housing.
Chapter II. Basic legal regime of the right to property in housing.
Article 10. Content of the right to property in housing: powers.
Article 11. Content of the right to property in housing: duties and burdens.
Title II. Action of the public authorities in housing matters.
Chapter I. General principles of public action in housing matters.
Article 12. State action in housing, rehabilitation, regeneration and urban renewal.
Article 13. Commitment to universal accessibility in the housing stock.
Article 14. Situations of special vulnerability.
Article 15. Right of access to housing and territorial and urban planning.
Article 16. Protected housing.
Article 17. Affordable housing encouraged.
Article 18. Declaration of areas with stressed residential markets.
Article 19. Collaboration and provision of information from large holders in areas of stressed residential market.
Chapter II. Collaboration and cooperation between public administrations in housing matters.
Article 20. Collaboration between public administrations in housing matters.
Article 21. Bodies for Cooperation in Housing and Land Matters.
Article 22. Interministerial coordination.
Chapter III. State action in housing matters.
Article 23. State planning and programming in housing matters.
Article 24. State plans for housing and rehabilitation, regeneration and urban and rural renewal.
Article 25. Public-private collaboration and affordable housing fund.
Article 26. Housing Advisory Council.
Title III. Public housing parks.
Article 27. Concept, purpose and financing.
Article 28. Guiding criteria for the management of public housing stocks.
Article 29. Purpose of public housing parks.
Title IV. Protection and transparency measures in housing purchase and rental operations.
Chapter I. General system of rights and basic information.
Article 30. Basic principles of rights, powers and responsibilities.
Article 31. Minimum information for housing purchase and rental operations.
Chapter II. Information and transparency in housing and land matters.
Article 32. Public housing stock.
Article 33. Investment in housing policy programs.
Article 34. Characterization of the housing stock. Uninhabited or vacant housing.
Article 35. Characterization of housing demand.
Article 36. Public land available for housing.
Additional provision one. Database of housing lease contracts and reinforcement of coordination in information on lease contracts.
Second additional provision. Priority of housing policy in the management of State assets.
Third additional provision. Review of the criteria for identifying areas with stressed residential markets.
Fourth additional provision. Application of resources from state housing plans in mediation and conciliation procedures.
Additional provision five. Working group for the regulation of lease contracts for uses other than housing.
Additional provision six. Property managers.
First transitional provision. Housing classified as having a public protection regime prior to the entry into force of the law.
Second transitional provision. Objectives in relation to the housing stock intended for social policies.
Third transitional provision. Procedures suspended under Articles 1 and 1 bis of Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of March 31, adopting urgent complementary measures in the social and economic sphere to address COVID-19.
Fourth transitional provision. Regime of lease contracts entered into prior to the entry into force of this law.
Sole repealing provision.
First final provision. Price containment measures in the regulation of housing rental contracts.
Second final provision. Tax incentives applicable in the Personal Income Tax to the leasing of properties intended for residential purposes.
Third final provision. Modulation of the surcharge on permanently unoccupied residential properties in the Property Tax.
Fourth final provision. Amendment to the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Act, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of 30 October.
Fifth final provision. Amendment to Law 1/2000, of 7 January, on Civil Procedure.
Sixth final provision. Extraordinary limitation on the annual update of the rent for residential lease contracts.
Final provision seven. Competent titles.
Eighth final provision. Regulatory development.
Final provision nine. Entry into force.
PREAMBLE
Yo
The Spanish Constitution (CE) recognises, in its article 47, the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing and then imposes on the public authorities the duty to promote the necessary conditions that guarantee equality in the exercise of rights and the fulfilment of constitutional duties and to establish the relevant regulations to make the aforementioned right effective. All of this as a projection of its article 9.2, which explains its systematic location in chapter III of title I of the fundamental norm, referring to the guiding principles of social and economic policy.
By its object, the constitutional right thus recognised affects the enjoyment of the content of other constitutional rights, even declared fundamental, such as those relating to physical and moral integrity (article 15 CE), personal and family privacy (article 18 CE), health protection (article 43 CE) and an adequate environment (article 45 CE); all of these rights are closely related to the values of quality of life – mentioned in the preamble of the fundamental law – and the free development of personality in society (article 10.1 CE). This impact and interrelationship can also be deduced from the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and is highlighted in the doctrine of the Constitutional Court, which is receptive to the former. All of which modulates both the right to property and the freedom of enterprise when operating in the housing sector, from the dual point of view of the social function they must fulfil and the general interest, respectively (articles 33.2, 38, 128.1 and 131.1 of the Spanish Constitution). And this against the background of the equality of all Spaniards in any part of the territory of the State (article 139.1 of the Spanish Constitution) in accordance with the terms of article 14 of the Spanish Constitution and, in particular, of persons and social groups in a situation of special disadvantage (article 48 of the Spanish Constitution) and the legitimate interests of consumers and users, in accordance with article 51.1 of the Spanish Constitution.
Housing is thus an essential constitutional asset that has multiple dimensions. From this perspective, the Constitutional Court itself has reiterated that it does not constitute an autonomous jurisdictional title, but that it can fall under different state or regional jurisdictional titles depending on the approach and the regulatory instruments used in each case by the legislator. This jurisdictional complexity is a clear consequence of the different constitutional dimensions that housing presents.
Housing is, above all, a central pillar of social well-being as a place where private and family life develops and the centre of all urban policies. But also, from the point of view of its physical support, it is a good that delimits an economic sector dedicated to its production, marketing and management. In fact, in urban construction as a whole, housing occupies 80% of the built space and, as such, is a determining factor in spatial structuring.
It is logical that, given its social relevance, the right to housing is included in important international declarations, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by the 183rd General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948. Article 25.1 of the Declaration provides that everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living that ensures housing for himself or herself and his or her family. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, signed in New York on 19 December 1966, also recognises in Article 11.1 the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living, including, among others, equally adequate housing. Likewise, the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities follows this same line, recognising throughout its articles the need to guarantee accessibility as a fundamental requirement for the enjoyment of adequate housing.
The European Union has also made progress in recognising the right to housing for every person, which was enshrined in the European Social Charter of 1961 and reinforced in the revised European Social Charter of 1996, according to which the parties undertake to adopt measures aimed at “promoting access to housing of sufficient quality; preventing and alleviating homelessness with a view to progressively eliminating such situations and making housing affordable for people who lack sufficient resources”. Article 19 of the European Pillar of Social Rights also includes housing among the principles and rights essential to the functioning of European welfare systems and, finally, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union approved by the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission on 7 December 2000 establishes in its Article 34.3 that “in order to combat social exclusion and poverty, the Union recognises and respects the right to social assistance and housing assistance to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources, in accordance with the rules laid down by Community law and national laws and practices.”
The European Parliament Resolution of 21 January 2021 on access to decent and affordable housing for all has expressed the same opinion, calling on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the right to adequate housing is recognised and enforceable as a fundamental human right through applicable European and state legislative provisions, and to guarantee equal access for all to decent housing. In short, the most current international regulations are aware of the process of de facto segregation in access to housing of which a large part of the population is a victim, especially young people and families and vulnerable groups. As a consequence, its postulates demand a paradigm shift in the legal consideration of housing, to reinforce its function as a social service of general interest. Only in this way will it be possible to guarantee the effective right to decent and affordable housing for all young people, and especially for those groups at risk of exclusion, recognized and enforceable as a fundamental human right and including access to basic services defined in urban planning and land use legislation, thus contributing to guaranteeing a dignified life in an appropriate environment and to eradicating poverty in all its forms.
For their part, the international Urban Agendas also pay special attention to housing and, specifically, the Spanish Urban Agenda, aligned with these and with the sustainable development goals proclaimed by the 2030 Agenda, calls for the promotion of measures and the adoption of housing policies that support the progressive realization of the right of all people to decent and adequate housing at affordable prices; that fight against all forms of discrimination and violence, especially in matters of gender; that prevent arbitrary forced evictions and that focus on the needs of homeless people by eradicating the phenomenon of homelessness, of those who suffer from situations of vulnerability, of social groups with low incomes and special difficulties and of people with disabilities; while encouraging the participation and collaboration of communities and all interested parties. These new Agendas, both national and international, show States and other levels of Public Administration the need to recognise the social function of land and housing and their commitment to a wide range of housing creation options, the promotion of different types of tenure and, in short, people-centred approaches. All of this within the framework of an inclusive vision of human settlements.
Likewise, the approval of this law complies with the milestone established in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of Spain, regarding the reform C02.R03 “Housing Law” included in number 22 of the annex to the Proposal for an Implementing Decision of the Council, of June 16, 2021, regarding the entry into force of a regulation that includes actions to support the increase in the supply of housing that meets the requirements of nearly zero-energy buildings, closely linked to the objectives set out in the definition of decent and adequate housing itself, towards which the set of measures adopted are oriented.
The duty imposed by article 47 CE is incumbent on all public powers without exception, which are obliged to comply with it within the framework of their respective spheres of competence. This law must therefore be understood in the context of the State’s compliance with the obligation that, within the framework of its constitutional powers, is incumbent on it in the protection of the right to access and enjoy decent and adequate housing. Its enactment also occurs at a particularly relevant time, when after the economic and financial crisis of the last decade and in the context of a progressive recovery after the difficult situation to which the pandemic led many people and households, a significant part of the population continues to suffer severe impacts of the same, focused in many cases on the loss of housing or the impossibility of accessing it in affordable conditions, and after the approval of a good number of regional regulations that, in a more temporary than structural way, have tried to respond to the most pressing social housing needs. In fact, a large majority of these laws are second generation, that is, they were approved while the first or second housing laws of the respective Autonomous Communities were in force.
This is why the absence of a housing regulation in the State’s legislative policies, as it exists in other areas with which it is closely related, establishes those basic and equal conditions that guarantee a uniform treatment of the right to housing recognized by the Constitution, in addition to those other aspects that, by virtue of its jurisdictional titles, correspond to it, is in contrast. The Constitutional Court itself, in a sort of reproach to the state legislator, has highlighted the lack of state legislation on housing that serves as a parameter of constitutionality to the high production of autonomous regulations on the matter. Judgment 16/2018, of February 22, to cite one of them, justifies the impossibility of considering that an autonomous regulation contradicts state competences when the state legislator has not “issued, to ensure a certain equality in the exercise of the constitutional right to private property, a regulation that reserves to the owner of homes (or buildings in general) the decision to have them permanently inhabited” (FJ 8.a). Also, Judgment 80/2018, of July 5, recalls that “Since the state legislator has not exercised the authorization granted to it by art. 149.1.1.ª CE, it is necessary to affirm that the autonomous legislator in housing matters, at the time when we make this judgment, does not find limits from this constitutional perspective.” This same jurisprudential doctrine is reiterated in other judgments such as 32/2018, of April 10, and 43/2018, of April 26.
This law is, therefore, the first state law regulating the right to housing since the approval of the Constitution, although it cannot be said that the State has been absent in housing policies. The significant allocation of public funds through fiscal aid and the systematic and continuous approval throughout democracy of the well-known Housing Plans that have had a wide and undeniable impact on the population are well known. However, all of them maintained a unitary and constant character over time, both in their design and in their content, defending and materializing a housing policy based fundamentally on promoting the production of an increasing volume of housing, the occupation of new land with the consequent growth of cities and the commitment to property as an essential form of access to housing.
This expansionist policy to promote property ownership began to reorient itself towards rehabilitation and rental, with the State Housing and Rehabilitation Plan 2009-2012, regulated by Royal Decree 2066/2008, of December 12. The following state plans: the State Plan for the promotion of housing rental, building rehabilitation, and urban regeneration and renewal 2013-2016, regulated by Royal Decree 233/2013, of April 5, the State Housing Plan 2018-2021, regulated by Royal Decree 106/2018, of March 9, and the State Plan for access to housing 2022-2025 regulated by Royal Decree 42/2022, of January 18, serve to confirm and reinforce this change of model.
However, there are still significant imbalances between new construction and renovation activity and between home ownership and rental housing, in addition to the fact that public rental housing stocks are completely insufficient to meet the needs of those people and households who have more difficulty accessing the market due to their limited financial means. It is worth noting that, of the total number of homes built between 1962 and 2020, 31.5% were protected homes, that is, some 5.7 million homes that were promoted under some public protection scheme, but which for the most part, despite the significant public effort made in their promotion and construction, have ceased to be subject, in relatively short periods, to any type of sale or rental limit.
From a territorial perspective, it is also necessary to recognise that imbalances in access to housing do not only occur in urban areas and large cities, but that in rural areas there is often an insufficient supply of available housing in suitable conditions and actions are needed to recover, rehabilitate or adapt the existing building stock, which require the special support of the public authorities. Thus, it is necessary for all administrations, in the exercise of their powers over housing, to guarantee access to housing in rural areas, especially for vulnerable groups, promoting territorial cohesion and facilitating the fight against depopulation.
Today, it is considered essential that economic planning in housing matters has a stable legislative framework, one of whose missions this law tries to fulfill.
As regards the quality of the housing stock, state building regulations establish basic requirements and demands that directly affect the functionality, safety and habitability of housing. However, these requirements only apply to newly built housing or to certain interventions on existing housing and do not provide effective instruments to ensure that the buyer or tenant is effectively aware of the quality and features of the housing that is the object of the real estate transaction, a key aspect to ensure its compliance with constitutional law. It is therefore necessary to establish general principles of action to ensure that in such operations there is sufficient information to verify, through the data and characteristics of the housing, that it can be considered worthy and suitable for a person or cohabitation unit to live in and enjoy it, as required by the Constitution.
II
According to article 148.3 of the Constitution, all the Autonomous Communities have assumed in their Statutes of Autonomy, without exception, full competence in housing matters. Unlike the State, which can only influence, with varying scope and on the basis of different competence titles, housing policy, the autonomous legislators can formulate complete regulatory programmes of public action in this area. Both are therefore obliged to articulate their respective actions so that they can be deployed in a coherent, stable and secure regulatory framework that makes possible the reality of the right recognised in article 47 of the Constitution in the execution of the corresponding measures, actions, plans and programmes and the basic equality of all Spaniards in relation to said right.
Constitutional jurisprudence has also endorsed this scheme of concurrent competences. The key ruling for these purposes is the Constitutional Court’s ruling 152/1988, of July 20, which analyzed one of the state housing plans for public housing protection and which supported the dynamics of said plans. This ruling, along with other subsequent ones, has maintained, in essence, the initial scheme of the Constitutional Court, which supported the state’s competence to approve housing plans, fundamentally based on article 149.1.13.ª CE, which attributes to the State the competence related to the general planning of economic activity, specifically the establishment of bases and coordination of this planning.
However, there are other jurisdictional titles that require the State to address this legislative task. Firstly, article 149.1.1.ª CE to regulate the basic conditions that guarantee the equality of all Spaniards in the exercise of rights and in the fulfilment of constitutional duties, in this case, in relation to the right to property of the home, but also with the exercise of the constitutional right to enjoy a decent and adequate home and even with the rights to privacy and the inviolability of the home, since the habitual residence is where the vast majority of people have their home and exercise the privacy of their personal and family life. The dignity and adequacy of the home are, therefore, also conditions for the exercise of these rights of the people who live there.
Secondly, there are the state powers in the area of commercial legislation (article 149.1.6.ª CE) and civil legislation (article 149.1.8.ª CE) in relation to contracts linked to access to housing, as has been admitted without hesitation by constitutional jurisprudence ( see, for all, the Constitutional Court’s ruling 15/1989, of 26 January). Thirdly, it is worth mentioning the establishment of the bases for the regulation of credit, banking and insurance (article 149.1.11.ª CE), it being obvious that the production of housing by development companies and its acquisition by citizens requires, in the majority, loans granted by credit institutions, an area in which state power is relevant. Closely linked to this state competence is also the competence relating to general finance and state debt (article 149.1.14.ª), which constitute competence titles that have been exercised by the State in the regulation of agreed or qualified loans or in the granting of financial aid. Finally, the state competence to dictate basic legislation on environmental protection (article 149.1.23.ª CE), also leads the State to dictate a regulation on housing, taking into account the environmental impact of the production and use of housing, as well as the competence relating to the bases of the mining and energy regime (article 149.1.25.ª CE), since the housing subsector is a key area in relation to energy efficiency and saving measures.
That is, a whole host of powers, the exercise of which at the state level requires the approval of state regulations on housing matters, without prejudice, of course, to the legitimate exercise of exclusive powers in this matter assumed by the Autonomous Communities and also by other public administrations, particularly the municipal administration, which is given the responsibility of promoting and managing public housing with financial sustainability criteria in accordance with article 25.2 of Law 7/1985, of 2 April, on the Bases of the Local Government.
III
This Housing Law, based on the aforementioned State powers, seeks to establish a homogeneous regulation of the most essential aspects of housing policies that affect, as has been pointed out, not only the satisfaction of the right of access to housing itself, but also that of other constitutional rights and the economic activity of the country. And this from a double perspective, one legal-public, as contemplated, mainly, in the preliminary title and in titles I to III, and another legal-private perspective, more present in title IV.
Within this framework, the objectives pursued by the law are the following:
− Establish a basic regulation of the rights and duties of citizens in relation to housing, as well as those associated with home ownership, applicable to the entire national territory.
− Facilitate access to decent and adequate housing for people who have difficulty accessing housing under market conditions, paying special attention to young people and vulnerable groups and promoting the existence of an offer at affordable prices and adapted to the realities of urban and rural areas.
− Provide effective instruments to ensure the functionality, safety, universal accessibility and habitability of homes, thereby guaranteeing the dignity and health of the people who live there.
− Define the fundamental aspects of state planning and programming in the area of housing, in order to promote the exercise of constitutional rights throughout the territory.
− Regulate the basic legal regime of public housing parks, ensuring their development, protection and efficiency to serve those sectors of the population with the greatest difficulties in access.
− Promote the development of housing typologies appropriate to different forms of cohabitation and living arrangements, encouraging adaptation to the dynamics and current demands of households.
− Improve protection in home purchase and rental operations, introducing a minimum of information necessary to provide security and guarantees in the process.
In order to advance the fulfillment of these objectives, the law is structured into five titles and contains 36 articles, six additional provisions, four transitional provisions, one repealing provision and nine final provisions.
Firstly, the preliminary title specifies the object and purposes of the law and establishes the corresponding legal definitions. In addition, it establishes the policies aimed at satisfying the right of access to decent and adequate housing as a service of general interest, both through the creation and management of public housing parks and through those actions, public and private, that aim to provide housing subject to some regime of public protection.
Public housing policies must be guided from this dual perspective. On the one hand, in order to comply with the mandate of Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution, it is essential that the competent territorial administrations develop their respective public housing stocks in order to allocate them, as a matter of priority, to satisfy the housing needs of the most disadvantaged groups, those in situations of vulnerability or social exclusion and, in general, all those who have difficulties in accessing housing on the market.
On the other hand, public policies must promote the existence of a sufficient and adequate supply of housing, which responds to the existing demand and allows for market equilibrium, ensuring its transparency and proper functioning.
Finally, the preliminary title also regulates, as is already done in the field of urban planning or the environment, public action to demand compliance with the applicable regulations in this matter and defines the principle of equality and non-discrimination in the field of housing.
Title I regulates essential aspects of the constitutional right to decent and adequate housing, setting out the basic status of citizens in relation to housing, as well as the basic legal regime of the right to property in housing, defining the powers and duties that this entails. Among other aspects, in areas with a tense residential market, a legal duty of information is introduced on the part of large property owners, at the request of the competent Administration in housing matters, in order to ensure compliance with the duties associated with the right to property in housing, especially in these environments where undue retention and vacancy practices must be avoided, which could have very negative effects on the residential market at a local level.
In this context, the general definition of the concept of “large holder” is understood as the natural or legal person who owns more than ten urban properties, excluding garages and storage rooms, or a constructed area of more than 1,500 m 2 , in the terms already included in Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of March 31, by which urgent complementary measures are adopted in the social and economic field to face COVID-19, being limited in the text of the law to those properties and surface area that are for residential use. However, it is specified that such general definition may be particularized in the declaration of stressed residential market environments, and may apply to owners of five or more urban properties for residential use that are located in such environments.
In any case, the definitions included in the law are established for the purposes of the provisions of the law itself, respecting in all cases the existing definitions or those that may be adopted within the framework of the legislation of the autonomous communities on this matter.
Through all this, the aim is to promote a balance between the housing supply and the need for habitual residence in areas defined as having a tense residential market, promoting the instruments, planning and measures necessary to reverse, from the public authorities, this situation. It cannot be ignored that a good part of these regulatory contents were already present, in one way or another, in some autonomous laws, but it is precisely the absence of regulation in other Autonomous Communities, which emphasizes the need to establish, precisely by the State, some common legal frameworks of such essential and basic aspects for the policies of protection of the right of access to decent and adequate housing. Among them, that the powers of the owners do not protect the antisocial use of housing or discrimination for any reason, among others. Also the definition of the basic rights and duties of the homeowner, such as the use and enjoyment of the same, in an effective manner.
In this way, the law establishes a statute of rights and duties of homeowners that takes into account the characteristics of the home itself and the building in which it is located, the urban or rural environment and the particularities of the property owner, all of which aspects affect the safeguarding of the social function that should be inherent to housing.
Title II sets out the fundamental aspects of public action in the area of housing, specifying some principles linked to territorial and urban planning and regulating the basic tools of state planning in this area, with full protection of the autonomous community’s competence in this area.
Thus, the law articulates public planning and programming policies on two categories of protected housing: social housing and limited-price housing.
The social housing stock is made up of the set of dwellings on publicly owned land, intended for rent, transfer or other forms of temporary ownership, aimed primarily at meeting the needs of population sectors with the greatest difficulties in accessing housing.
The social housing stock includes public housing, which is land that is classified as public housing or is part of buildings or premises intended for public facilities and used for public services. Public housing may be managed by public administrations, their dependent entities or non-profit entities with social purposes linked to housing, to guarantee access to it for people in vulnerable situations or social exclusion, under a rental regime, right of surface or other temporary tenure modalities permitted by applicable legislation.
Public housing, together with the rest of social housing, will form part of the public housing stock specifically regulated in Title III, and will be subject to limitations to ensure its survival and its purpose as an instrument at the service of housing policies.
The law establishes several mechanisms to expand the supply of social housing: it will allow the use of public housing to be classified as compatible use of public land; land for public or social housing may be obtained through urban transformation actions and, in addition, it guarantees that public housing is built on land resulting from the fulfillment of the duty provided for in letter b) of section 1 of article 18 of the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30. To this end, it prevents, in municipalities where there is a mismatch between the supply and demand for habitual housing, the delivery of this land from being replaced by other forms of fulfillment of the duty or from being used for other uses of social interest other than the previous one.
Secondly, within protected housing, limited-price housing is defined as that which is subject to administrative limitations on sale and/or rental prices, for a certain period of time. Limited-price protected housing will be intended for different tenure regimes and its volume and characteristics in terms of surface area and price will be conditioned in all cases by the demand and needs of households in its territorial area.
Limited-price protected housing may be built, like other types of protected housing, on land reserves for housing subject to a public protection regime provided for in letter b) of section 1 of article 20 of the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Act, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30, in which case they must maintain this condition permanently as long as the purpose of that land is maintained. However, limited-price housing may also be built on land classified as free housing.
In any case, the law guarantees that protected housing, whether social or at a limited price, cannot be disqualified, except in the case of housing promoted on land whose urban classification does not impose such a purpose and which does not have public aid for its promotion, or in those cases where it is exceptionally justified in accordance with regional regulations, and in such exceptional cases, the qualification period cannot be less than thirty years. In the rest of the cases in which the urban classification of the land imposes such a purpose, it cannot be modified nor can the housing on said land be disqualified.
However, it is also important to highlight the introduction of the concept of incentivised affordable housing, as a necessary figure to increase the supply in the short term. This is a new concept that is added to protected housing as an effective mechanism to increase the supply of housing at affordable prices, considered as that privately owned housing, including third sector and social economy entities, to whose owner the competent Administration grants benefits of an urban, fiscal or any other nature, in exchange for using them as a habitual residence under a rental regime at reduced prices, or any other form of temporary ownership, for people whose income level does not allow them to access housing at market prices. In this way, the involvement of all public, private and third sector agents is sought in the search for solutions to the problems of housing supply and the orientation of the existing housing stock to this end, always linking the public benefits that are assigned to these homes to the limitations of use, time and maximum prices that, in each case, are determined by the competent Administration.
Title II also includes the declaration of areas with a stressed residential market, which may be made by the competent administrations in housing matters in order to guide public actions in housing matters in those territorial areas where there is a special risk of insufficient housing supply for the population, in conditions that make it affordable for access in the market, establishing procedural rules for its declaration for the purposes of state legislation. The main effect of the declaration of these stressed areas is the drafting of a specific plan that will propose the necessary measures to correct the imbalances observed.
In any case, it should be noted that the common objective of the various public administrations to provide citizens with decent and adequate housing makes it necessary to establish mechanisms and bodies for collaboration and cooperation to guarantee their participation and efficiency in achieving the constitutional guarantee, without renouncing the corresponding area of competence. In particular, the State provides itself with state plans for housing and the various programmes for rehabilitation, regeneration and urban and rural renewal, the content of which is not limited to public aid, but establishes a set of objectives, lines of action, measures and programmes that, over a multi-year time frame, must periodically mark the State’s policy in these matters.
In these plans, priority will be given, among other state actions, to those that promote the appropriate use and rational and efficient occupation of residential assets; the conservation, maintenance and rehabilitation of homes that constitute habitual residence and that are intended to comply with the habitability requirements provided for in the law, as well as those that contribute to improving energy efficiency, promote the use of renewable energies and universal accessibility of the built stock, favoring in all cases an increase in the supply of affordable housing with the highest benefits, which go beyond compliance with the requirements of nearly zero energy consumption (EECN) buildings, in the context of the provisions of Component 2 “Implementation of the Spanish Urban Agenda: Urban rehabilitation and regeneration plan” of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of Spain, with priority being given to actions linked to the creation, expansion and management of public housing stocks; the construction and rehabilitation of housing subject to some form of public protection regime, as well as those that promote the application of building typologies that respond to the needs of the different stages of people’s and households’ lives, as well as to current social needs and the composition of cohabitation units.
Finally, the Housing Advisory Council is established as a consultative body for state housing policies, the creation of which must be the subject of regulatory development and which will ensure the participation of the various social agents in the elaboration and development of housing policy.
Title III establishes the regulation of the basic legal regime of public housing parks, one of the most significant initiatives of this law. These public parks, almost non-existent in Spain compared to the European Union average, are essential to guarantee access to decent and adequate housing for broad social groups and to alleviate the effects of serious market imbalances. According to the latest estimates from the Housing and Land Observatory of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, it can be noted that in Spain there is a social housing park, considering as such, exclusively, publicly owned rental housing, located in the vicinity of 290,000 homes. Of these, some 180,000 are owned by the autonomous communities and dependent entities, and another 110,000 homes are owned by local councils and dependent entities. This stock of 290,000 social housing units barely covers 1.6% of the 18.6 million households living in Spain, which contrasts with the percentages significantly higher than 15% recorded in some of the main countries in our environment, such as France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria or Denmark, considering the total social housing stock.
This inadequacy of public housing stocks largely explains the extraordinary difficulties faced by large sections of the population in obtaining housing that suits their needs and economic capabilities. This is the case, for example, of young people who have to delay the age of emancipation due to their difficulties in entering the labour market and accessing housing. In fact, the average age of emancipation in our country has suffered a significant decline due to the economic crisis, standing in 2020, according to the latest data from Eurostat, at 29.8 years, well above the European Union average, which stands at 26.4 years. Special consideration also deserves those people who, as a result of the economic crisis or in the context of the health crisis derived from the pandemic, have lost the home they lived in; single-parent households, which are increasing significantly; those of older people, especially women; with low incomes; the homeless and all those groups that cannot satisfy their housing needs under market conditions. These circumstances have been compounded in the past by the sale of part of these public housing units in certain parts of Spain to investment funds, reducing the already limited stock of social housing in our country.
In this context, the law is committed to public parks that will be supported by the urban and building development of publicly owned land, for which they can rely on public-private collaboration formulas. But the public park will also include social housing acquired by public administrations in the exercise of the rights of first refusal and repurchase, in cases of foreclosure or payment in lieu of habitual housing of vulnerable or socially excluded groups or any other social housing acquired by public administrations with powers in housing matters, or transferred to them, that is capable of being used for the purposes of the public housing park.
In this way, the law prevents the repetition of improper transfers of public housing stock, and establishes a separate estate in which the income obtained must always be allocated to the creation, expansion, rehabilitation or improvement of public housing stock. The law establishes that the income from the sanctions that may be imposed for failure to comply with the social function of housing ownership, as well as the income from the transfer of the assets of the public housing stock, must be used solely to finance public housing policies, under the terms and conditions established.
Title IV focuses on strengthening protection in housing purchase or rental operations, establishing a series of guarantees and information obligations to which persons or entities acquiring or renting housing are entitled, and a series of responsibilities arising from their non-compliance, whether it is the seller or the intermediary in the real estate transaction. In particular, it establishes as a right of persons seeking, acquiring or renting housing, the right to receive information in an accessible format, which is complete, objective, truthful, clear, understandable and accessible, ensuring full knowledge of the conditions of the housing object of the operation. Likewise, certain basic requirements are established for real estate agents and for the information or advertising to which operators must adhere.
Title IV also includes, without prejudice to the principles and requirements contained in the applicable regional regulations and as a minimum, the information that the person interested in purchasing or renting a home that is on offer may require, before formalizing the operation and the delivery of any amount on account.
Title IV closes with a series of measures aimed at improving information and commitment to transparency in housing matters, in order to ensure the proper functioning of the housing market and access to information, in certain areas that are strategic for defining the bases and coordination of the general planning of economic activity.
Among these areas, public housing stands out. A matter in which institutions such as the Ombudsman have expressly stated the need to advance in information and transparency and in which there is a significant deficit in Spain. In this context, the obligation is established to prepare and keep up to date an inventory of the public housing stock and an annual report specifying the actions taken to strengthen said stock and accommodate it to the existing demand and, in particular, from people and households with fewer resources.
The document also includes other areas in which objectives and actions are established to improve information and transparency, through the electronic office provided for in article 38 of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector. These include the quantification of annual investments in the main housing policy programs, the approximation to uninhabited or vacant housing in the territorial area, the characterization of housing demand, necessary to guide the main measures in economic and fiscal policy, as well as the public land available for housing, specifying that which forms part of the public land heritage, by virtue of the legal duty of transfer established in state land legislation.
The law ends with six additional provisions, four transitional provisions, one repealing provision and nine final provisions.
The first additional provision establishes the creation of a database of housing rental contracts, which will be linked to the current autonomous registers of deposits of the autonomous communities, to the Property Registry and other sources of information at the state, autonomous or local level, in order to increase the information available for monitoring the measures, strengthening coordination with the autonomous communities in terms of the exchange of information on rental housing, and establishing a specific process of collaboration with the autonomous communities that have made progress in the formation of reference systems for rental prices in their respective territorial areas.
The second additional provision reinforces housing policy as a priority in the State’s property management and, in particular, in those areas that have been declared as areas of stressed residential market, in which it is necessary to mobilize all land that could potentially be used for residential purposes to address the shortage of affordable supply that characterizes these environments.
The third additional provision establishes the provision for a review process of the criteria for identifying areas with stressed residential markets, to adapt them to the reality and evolution of the residential market, which will take place three years after the law comes into force, based on cooperation with the competent administrations in housing matters.
The fourth additional provision regulates the application of resources from state housing plans in the mediation and conciliation procedures prior to the filing of the claim, introduced in the amendment to Law 1/2000, of January 7, on Civil Procedure, which is included in the fifth final provision of the law.
The fifth additional provision establishes the creation of a working group to improve the regulation of rental contracts for uses other than housing and, in particular, seasonal rental contracts.
As regards the sixth additional provision, due to its particular relevance in the field of housing, certain aspects of the activity of property managers are regulated, taking into account that it is a professional group of great importance to ensure the guarantee and protection of consumer rights.
The transitional regime of the law includes four transitional provisions. The first transitional provision establishes that housing that was definitively classified as having a public protection regime when the law came into force will be governed by the provisions of said regime and, as regards housing that forms part of the public housing stock, it establishes that they will be governed by the provisions of the law and the provisions of the legislation on housing, urban planning and land use that regulate them.
The second transitional provision introduces a series of objectives in relation to the housing stock for social policies, which will operate in the absence of specific time frames and goals defined by the competent territorial administrations. In particular, it sets the objective of reaching 20 percent of housing for social policies in those municipalities in which areas of stressed residential market have been declared, as well as obligations for annual evaluation of the degree of achievement of the established objectives and goals.
For its part, in the third transitional provision, the subjection of the procedures suspended by virtue of articles 1 and 1 bis of Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of March 31, by which urgent complementary measures are adopted in the social and economic field to face COVID-19, to the conciliation or intermediation procedure provided for in the amendment of Law 1/2000, of January 7, on Civil Procedure, which is included in the fifth final provision of the law, is established.
As regards the fourth transitional provision, it includes the regime of rental contracts entered into prior to the entry into force of the law, and specifies the continued validity of the extraordinary measures applicable to current housing rental contracts and, in particular, those included in article 46 of Royal Decree-Law 6/2022, of March 29, which adopts urgent measures within the framework of the National Response Plan to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine.
As for the sole repealing provision, it includes the repeal upon the entry into force of the law of all provisions of equal or lower rank that oppose the provisions contained therein.
In relation to the final provisions, the first final provision establishes an exceptional and time-limited mechanism that can intervene in the market to cushion situations of tension and grant the competent administrations the necessary time to compensate, where appropriate, for the supply deficit or to correct, with other housing policies, the deficiencies of the areas declared to be under tension in the residential market. To this end, Law 29/1994 of 24 November on Urban Leases is amended, establishing for leased dwellings the possibility that the tenant may opt for an extraordinary extension at the end of the contract, on an annual basis, and for a maximum period of three years, under the same terms and conditions of the current contract and, in new lease contracts for dwellings that have been leased to new tenants, a limitation on rent in these areas is proposed, in general, to the rent of the previous contract, applying the annual rent update clause of the previous contract, allowing certain additional maximum increases in certain cases established by law.
Likewise, in these areas of stressed residential market, when the owner is a large holder, or in the case of homes that have not been rented as a habitual residence in the last five years when this is justified in the declaration of the area, it may not exceed the maximum limit of the applicable price according to the reference price index system, the application of which is defined through a new transitional provision introduced in Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases.
The first final provision also introduces certain improvements in the regulation of housing rental contracts through various modifications to Law 29/1994, of 24 November, on Urban Leases. Among them, we can highlight the introduction of an extraordinary one-year extension to the end of the contract, which may be requested in proven situations of social and economic vulnerability when the landlord is a large property owner, as well as the establishment of the obligation that the costs of real estate management and those of formalising the contract be borne by the landlord.
Finally, the first final provision, in order to avoid disproportionate increases in the annual updates of housing rental contracts, through the introduction of a new additional provision in Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases, entrusts the National Institute of Statistics with the definition, before the end of 2024, of a new reference index for the annual update of housing rental contracts.
The second final provision includes a series of tax incentives applicable to the Personal Income Tax (IRPF) for the leasing of properties for residential purposes. In particular, it establishes an improvement in the regulation of the IRPF to encourage the rental of habitual housing at affordable prices, through the modulation of the current 60 percent reduction in the net income from the rental of housing, establishing that, in new rental contracts, the percentage of reduction will be 50%, which may be increased to 90 percent, in the event that new housing lease contracts are signed in areas with a stressed residential market with a reduction of at least 5 percent on the previous contract. This reduction may reach 70 percent when it concerns the incorporation into the market of housing intended for rent in areas with a stressed residential market and is rented to young people between 18 and 35 years of age in said areas, or, alternatively, it concerns affordable housing that is incentivized or protected, rented to the public administration or third sector entities or the social economy that have the status of non-profit entities, or included in a public housing program that limits the rental income. And, it may reach a reduction of 60 percent on the net income when rehabilitation works have been carried out in the two previous years.
The third final provision regulates the surcharge on permanently unoccupied residential properties in the Property Tax, IBI, which may be applied to those homes that have been empty for more than two years, with a minimum of four homes per owner, except for justified reasons for temporary vacancy, as assessed by law. Likewise, the surcharge is increased, currently at 50 percent of the net IBI rate, up to a maximum of 150 percent, depending on the duration of the vacancy and the number of also unoccupied homes that are owned by the same owner in the municipal area, with the aim of having a greater effect on optimising the use of the residential building stock and strengthening the instrument of the City Councils to deal with situations of unoccupied housing through taxation.
For its part, the fourth final provision modifies the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30, increasing the percentage of land reserved for protected housing from 30 to 40 percent of the residential buildability provided for by urban planning in rural land that is to be included in new urbanization actions, and from 10 to 20 percent in the case of urbanized land that must undergo urbanization reform or renewal actions.
The fifth final provision introduces important improvements in the regulation of the eviction procedure in situations of vulnerability, through an amendment to Law 1/2000, of January 7, on Civil Procedure. Among other aspects, it is worth highlighting the elimination of the need for consent of the interested party in the transfer to the competent public administrations to verify their situation of vulnerability in eviction proceedings, the scope of protection is expanded when situations of vulnerability are identified, different technical improvements are introduced in the wording and, in accordance with jurisprudential and international standards, a system of automatic suspension by the Clerk of the Court is not established if vulnerability is proven, but a system of decision by the court after a weighted and proportional assessment of the specific case, setting a suspension period of two months for natural persons and four months for legal persons, increasing the current periods of one and three months, respectively.
The fifth final provision also introduces a conciliation or mediation procedure in cases where the plaintiff is a large property owner, the property in question is the habitual residence of the occupant and the occupant is in a situation of economic vulnerability. The application of this procedure will facilitate the competent Administrations to provide adequate attention to the affected persons and households, offering a response through different social protection instruments and housing policy programmes.
The sixth final provision extends the extraordinary limitation on the annual rent update for residential lease contracts contained in article 46 of Royal Decree-Law 6/2022, of March 29, which adopts urgent measures within the framework of the National Plan to respond to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine. Specifically, the measure is temporarily extended by establishing a 3 percent limitation on the annual rent update for residential lease contracts in the period between January 1 and December 31, 2024.
Furthermore, specific parameters of economic vulnerability are established based on objective criteria and, in the case of occupations of homes that must be substantiated through criminal proceedings, it is established through a new additional provision that the Courts will transfer the situation to the competent Public Administrations, for the protection of dependent persons, persons with disabilities, victims of violence against women or minors.
Finally, the seventh final provision details the jurisdictional titles that enable state legislation to assume the diverse contents that make up the former, with the eighth final provision enabling the regulatory development and the ninth final provision establishing the entry into force of the norm.
IV
The law complies with the principles of good regulation provided for in Article 129 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations.
In this way, the principle of necessity and effectiveness is fulfilled, fully justified by the social and economic relevance of the challenges in the area of housing and the adequacy of the measures and provisions contained in the law aimed at addressing them on the basis of the necessary inter-administrative cooperation. Likewise, the principles of legal certainty, proportionality and efficiency are complied with, highlighting that the measures it incorporates are consistent with the legal system and incorporate the best possible alternative for achieving the objectives detailed above, without the contents of the law implying any type of administrative burden.
As regards the principle of legal certainty and transparency, the law has followed the procedures for prior public consultation, as well as for public hearing and information, provided for in article 26 of Law 50/1997, of 27 November, of the Government, although this principle is reinforced through the clear and accessible exposition of the reasons and objectives of the norm, which are included in this explanatory part and in the mandatory regulatory impact analysis report.
PRELIMINARY TITLE
General provisions
Article 1. Purpose of the law.
1. The purpose of this law is to regulate, within the scope of the State’s powers, the basic conditions that guarantee equality in the exercise of rights and in the fulfilment of constitutional duties related to housing and, in particular, the right to access decent and adequate housing and to enjoy it in affordable conditions, taking into account compliance with the provisions of the international instruments ratified by Spain and respecting in all cases the powers of the autonomous communities and, specifically, those attributed to them in matters of housing.
2. In order to ensure the exercise of the right to housing, this law will also regulate the basic content of the right to property in housing in relation to its social function, which includes the duty to use it for the residential purposes provided for by law, within the framework of land use and urban planning instruments, as well as to maintain, conserve and rehabilitate housing, assigning to the public authorities the function of ensuring its proper fulfillment, within the scope of their respective powers, through the application of the legally required measures.
3. The law also aims to strengthen the protection of access to complete, objective, truthful, clear, understandable and accessible information in housing purchase and rental transactions.
Article 2. Purposes of public housing policies.
The common objectives of the action of the public authorities in housing matters, within the scope of their respective competences, are:
a) The effectiveness of the rights of access to decent and adequate housing under affordable conditions in accordance with the Spanish Constitution and the recommendations of international instruments ratified by Spain.
b) Promote the effective use and enjoyment of housing, pursuant to the legal tenure regime, as well as its maintenance, conservation and, where appropriate, rehabilitation and improvement.
c) Ensure the habitability of housing, understood as the set of minimum requirements of quality, functionality and universal accessibility that, in accordance with applicable regulations, must be met by the same in order to guarantee the dignity and health of people, to satisfy their housing needs at different stages of their lives, with special attention to the needs of minors, for whom housing also constitutes a fundamental space for development, security and shelter, and as a basis for the effective exercise of rights and freedoms.
d) Promote inter-administrative collaboration, favouring coherence and transparency in public housing policy actions, as well as coordination with other sectoral policies, and guaranteeing the participation of citizens and representative entities of civil society in the field of housing.
e) Protect the stability and legal security in the ownership, use and enjoyment of housing, with special attention to people and households in situations of vulnerability or at risk, and specifically to families, households and cohabitation units with minors in their care, through effective measures in housing matters and ensuring proper coordination with complementary measures of social care, training, employment and other accompanying actions.
f) Promote the development, management and maintenance of public housing stocks to ensure a significant and stable supply of decent housing suitable for social sectors with the greatest difficulties in accessing housing on the market, through the necessary investment in each budget year and taking into account the characteristics and needs of all territorial areas affected by different dynamics of population growth or loss.
g) Promote the rehabilitation and improvement of existing housing, both in the private and public housing stock, through programs and measures on sustainability, energy efficiency and use of renewable energy, habitability, universal accessibility, conservation, improved safety of use and digitalization, favoring comprehensive approaches and specifically considering the characteristics of housing in rural areas.
h) Promote and encourage the existence of a sufficient and adequate supply of rental housing at affordable prices, with special attention to young people and households in situations of vulnerability or at risk, enabling effective mechanisms for land regulation and use, and developing programming and planning measures and instruments that meet the real needs of applicants and promote social and territorial cohesion.
i) Support the existence of social housing parks run by third sector entities, which are complementary to public housing parks and expand the supply of accommodation and housing for vulnerable groups and households, with special attention to families, households and cohabitation units with minors in their care.
j) Achieve maximum efficiency in the management of available resources to promote access to decent and adequate housing, promoting, where appropriate, public-private collaboration formulas.
k) Protect basic rights and legitimate interests in housing purchase and rental operations, defining responsibilities and ensuring access to sufficient and appropriate information.
l) Eliminate any type of discrimination, for any reason, in access to and enjoyment of housing, ensuring integration, inclusion and social and territorial cohesion in housing policy actions and measures.
m) Promote universal accessibility in the housing stock, ensuring its effectiveness in new housing and adopting measures to address unforeseen needs in the existing housing stock.
n) Adopt measures to identify and prevent speculative retention, residential segregation, overcrowding processes, serious residential exclusion such as shanty towns or homelessness and the deterioration of the conditions of the existing housing stock and its surroundings, in order to allow the development of its residential function and the improvement of quality of life.
ñ) Ensure equality, from the perspective of gender, age, capacity and territorial perspective, in all housing policies and actions, at all levels, and in all phases of planning, execution and evaluation.
o) Control and guarantee the responsible use of sufficient public resources to meet the objectives of housing policy by the competent Administrations and apply, in the management of the public park, criteria of co-responsibility of its occupants.
p) Prioritise attention and information to families, households and cohabitation units with minors in their care who, due to being in a situation of poverty, social exclusion or other forms of vulnerability, should be the object of special protection.
q) Contribute to the implementation of housing policies to correct territorial imbalances, both in urban and metropolitan areas and in rural environments, which may be more affected by depopulation phenomena.
r) Promote transparency and ensure the participation in the development of public housing policies of the agents involved in the real estate market, particularly social housing developers, citizen associations defending the right to housing, tenant and property owner associations, property managers and real estate agents.
s) Strengthen the social economy by encouraging the participation of social and assistance entities in the housing sector.
Article 3. Definitions.
For the purposes of the provisions of this law, and as long as they do not contradict those regulated by the competent administrations in housing matters, in which case, and for the purposes of their regulation, the former shall prevail, the following definitions are established:
a) Housing: a building or part of a building of a private nature and intended for residence and habitation of people, which meets the minimum conditions of habitability required by law, and may have access to common spaces and services of the building in which it is located, all in accordance with applicable legislation and with urban and territorial planning.
b) Substandard housing: a building, or part thereof, intended for housing, which does not meet the minimum conditions required in accordance with applicable legislation. In any case, housing that does not meet the requirements of surface area, number, size and characteristics of habitable rooms, that has serious deficiencies in its basic facilities and installations and that does not meet the minimum requirements of safety, universal accessibility and habitability required of the building shall be deemed not to meet these conditions.
c) Decent and adequate housing: housing that, due to its size, location, living conditions, universal accessibility, energy efficiency and use of renewable energy and other characteristics thereof, and with access to basic supply networks, meets the residential needs of the person or cohabitation unit in affordable conditions according to financial effort, constituting their domicile, abode or home in which to live with dignity, while safeguarding their privacy, and enjoy family or social relationships, promoting the full development and social inclusion of people.
d) Affordable conditions in accordance with the financial effort: those sale or rental price conditions that avoid excessive financial effort by households taking into account their net income and their particular characteristics, considering both the mortgage payment or rental income, as well as the basic expenses and supplies that must be paid by the mortgaged owner or the tenant, and which should not generally exceed 30 percent of the income of the cohabitation unit.
e) Basic expenses and supplies: the amount of the cost of energy supplies (electricity, gas, diesel, among others), running water, telecommunications services, and possible contributions to the community of owners, all of them for the habitual residence.
f) Protected housing: housing subject to a special regime for use as the habitual residence of persons with difficulties in accessing the housing market, both in urban and metropolitan areas, as well as in rural areas. For the purposes of this law, the following modalities are established: social housing, or limited-price housing.
1. Social housing: public housing intended for rent, transfer or any other form of temporary tenure subject to rent or sale restrictions and intended for persons or households with difficulties in accessing housing on the market. Social housing will also be considered to be housing where the land is publicly owned and on which a right of surface, administrative concession or equivalent legal transaction has been established.
Social housing may be built on land classified as public facilities or be included in buildings or premises intended for public facilities and used for public services.
Social housing may be managed directly by public administrations or dependent entities, by non-profit entities with social purposes linked to housing, or through public-private collaboration formulas that are compatible with its nature.
Emergency social housing may be considered to be that social housing that is intended to deal with emergency situations, offering a short-term and temporary housing solution, on a universal basis and until permanent alternative housing is provided, to people and families who are in a situation of loss or inability to access adequate housing, regardless of the documentary and administrative conditions of the people affected.
2. Limited-price protected housing: public or private housing, excluding social or public endowment housing, subject to rental price limits and all other requirements established by law or regulation and intended to satisfy the permanent housing needs of persons or households who have difficulty accessing housing on the market. Limited-price housing shall be classified as such in accordance with the procedure established by the competent Public Administration.
(g) Incentivised affordable housing: for the purposes of the provisions of this law, this shall be considered as that housing owned privately, including third sector and social economy entities, to whose owner the competent Administration grants benefits of an urban, fiscal or any other nature, in exchange for using it as a habitual residence under a rental regime, or any other form of temporary tenure, for persons whose income level does not allow them to access housing at market prices. The public benefits assigned to this housing shall be linked to the limitations on use, time and maximum prices that, in each case, are determined by the competent Administration.
h) Third sector housing and accommodation stock: the set of properties owned or managed by non-profit entities with social purposes linked to housing, intended to satisfy the housing or accommodation needs of people or households in vulnerable situations or at risk of social exclusion, or to provide affordable housing to broad sectors of society.
i) Habitual residence: the dwelling that constitutes the permanent domicile of the person who occupies it and that can be accredited through the data contained in the municipal register or other legally valid means.
j) Secondary residence: any dwelling that is used by its owner for temporary or intermittent stays, and which does not constitute his or her habitual residence.
(k) Large holder: for the purposes of the provisions of this law, the natural or legal person who owns more than ten urban residential properties or a constructed surface area of more than 1,500 m2 for residential use, excluding in all cases garages and storage rooms. This definition may be specified in the declaration of stressed residential market environments to those owners of five or more urban residential properties located in said area, when so justified by the autonomous community in the corresponding explanatory report.
(l) Homelessness: a life circumstance that affects a person, family or cohabitation unit that cannot sustainably access decent and adequate housing in a community environment and forces the people, families or cohabitation units that suffer from it to live in public streets or other inadequate public spaces, or use alternative institutionalized collective accommodation from the different public administrations or non-profit entities, or reside in inadequate housing, temporary or not, inappropriate or overcrowded, in unsafe housing, without legal title, or with notice of abandonment, or living under threat of violence.
It may be classified as chronic homelessness when the homelessness situation continues or occurs over a period of time equal to or greater than one year.
Article 4. Services of general interest.
1. For the purposes of directing public funding, the following are considered to be services of general interest, as key elements of economic, social and territorial cohesion, those determined by the competent administrations in the matter, and within the scope of state competence or collaboration of the State with other administrations:
a) The development of the actions necessary for the creation, expansion, conservation and improvement of the public housing stock, by the competent public administrations and their instrumental or dependent entities, as well as its management to ensure its effective use under affordable conditions, as defined in the previous article or in the corresponding regional regulations.
b) Activities, public or private, whose purpose is the construction or rehabilitation of housing subject to a public protection regime that sets a maximum sale and rental price, intended for persons or households that meet the pre-established requirements based on objective criteria that define their economic and social situation.
c) The development of the necessary actions by the competent public administrations and their instrumental or dependent entities, aimed at promoting the improvement of the conditions of habitability, accessibility or energy efficiency of residential buildings, both public and private.
2. The services of general interest indicated in the previous section may be carried out directly by public administrations or their instrumental or dependent entities, or they may be carried out through agreements with the owners, with legally constituted entities of the third sector and the social economy, or through different formulas of public-private collaboration, in compliance with the current legal framework, taking into account the nature of the collaboration.
Article 5. Public action.
1. The acts and provisions issued pursuant to Title II, Title III and Chapter II of Title IV of this Law may be challenged, in addition to those entitled to do so, in the terms provided for in Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, and in Law 29/1998, of July 13, regulating the Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction, by non-profit legal entities that, through the exercise of this action, defend general interests linked to the protection of housing. Such exercise may not be contrary to good faith, nor constitute an abuse of law.
2. For the purposes of the provisions of article 31 of Law 29/1998, of July 13, regulating the Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction, the exercise of this action may in no case include a claim for recognition and restoration of an individual legal situation, unless the person exercising the action is someone who is legitimized by holding a legitimate right or interest affected. The waiver or withdrawal of the same, whether by administrative or contentious-administrative means, may not imply financial compensation.
Article 6. Principle of equality and non-discrimination in housing.
1. By virtue of the principle of equality and non-discrimination in housing, all persons have the right to the use and enjoyment of decent and adequate housing, complying with the legal and contractual requirements established in current legislation and regulations, without suffering discrimination, exclusion, harassment or violence of any kind.
2. The competent Administrations must ensure compliance with the provisions of section 1, adopting the necessary protection measures to prevent and deal specifically with the following situations that affect the use and enjoyment of housing:
a) Direct discrimination, which occurs when a person or group of people receives, in some aspect related to housing, treatment that is different from that received by another person in a similar situation, provided that the difference in treatment does not have a legitimate cause that justifies it objectively and reasonably, and the means used are proportionate, adequate and necessary.
b) Indirect discrimination, which occurs when a normative provision, a plan, a conventional or contractual clause, an individual agreement, a unilateral decision, a criterion or a practice, apparently neutral, produces a particular disadvantage for a person or group of persons compared to others in the exercise of the right to housing. There is no indirect discrimination if the action has a legitimate purpose that justifies it objectively and reasonably and the means used to achieve this purpose are proportionate, adequate and necessary.
c) Real estate harassment, understood as any action or omission with abuse of rights with the aim of disturbing any person in the peaceful use of their home and creating a hostile environment, whether in the material, personal or social aspect, with the ultimate goal of forcing them to make an unwanted decision regarding the right that protects them to use and enjoy the home.
d) Operations of sale, lease or transfer by any title, complete or partial, for residence of a substandard dwelling, an overcrowded dwelling and any form of illegal accommodation, or with respect to property over which there is no legitimate right that authorizes the effect or the representation thereof.
TITLE I
Social function and legal regime of housing
Article 7. Guiding principles for guaranteeing the social function of housing.
1. Taking into account the delimitation of the right to decent and adequate housing provided for in Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution, and considering that housing fulfils a social function given that it constitutes an asset intended to satisfy the basic housing needs of individuals, families and cohabitation units, it is the responsibility of the competent public administrations to ensure that the necessary conditions are promoted to guarantee the effective exercise of said right in affordable conditions and with special attention to families, households and cohabitation units with minors in their care, through the statute of rights and duties associated with housing, in the terms set out in this law.
2. In order to comply with the provisions of the previous section, the public authorities, within the scope of their respective powers, must articulate effective mechanisms to ensure their due protection, conservation, rehabilitation and improvement, in the terms established by this law and in accordance with the legislation and regulations in force regarding housing.
CHAPTER I
Basic status of the citizen
Article 8. Citizens’ rights in relation to housing.
All citizens have the right to:
a) Enjoy decent and adequate housing, under the terms established by this law, whether under a property, lease, transfer of use, or any other legal tenure regime.
b) Access information available to public administrations on public housing programmes and the conditions of access to them in formats accessible to people with disabilities, as well as on the benefits, aid and public resources available to guarantee access to housing by people and families in vulnerable situations.
c) Request registration in the registers of applicants for protected housing established for this purpose by the competent public administrations in this area, and in the different programs, benefits, aid and public resources for access to housing, based on their social and economic situation, as well as their personal and family circumstances.
d) Participate in public housing programs and access public housing benefits, aid and resources under the terms and conditions established in the regulations governing them.
Article 9. Duties of citizens in relation to housing.
All citizens have the duty to:
a) Respect and contribute to preserving the housing stock, avoiding any annoying or unhealthy activity that disrupts the exercise of the right of use and enjoyment indicated in the previous article.
b) In relation to the dwelling in which one lives, carry out the corresponding conservation, repair or improvement actions in accordance with the legal tenure regime under which it is owned.
c) In relation to other people’s housing, available to other people, households, or public and private entities, respect the peaceful tenure of the same and refrain from carrying out any type of activity that prevents or hinders it.
d) In relation to home purchase or rental operations, comply with the legally established duties for the transferor or intermediary defined in Title IV and other regulations applicable to said operations.
e) In relation to the public housing stock, pay attention to its special importance as an instrument of action in favour of the right to housing and ensure its adequate maintenance and conservation, so that it can serve households with the greatest difficulties.
CHAPTER II
Basic legal regime of the right to property ownership
Article 10. Content of the right to property in housing: powers.
1. In addition to the rights recognized in state land legislation based on the basic situation of the land on which the dwelling is located, in accordance with the applicable legislation on territorial and urban planning, the right to ownership of the dwelling includes:
a) The powers of use, enjoyment and disposal thereof in accordance with its qualification, condition and objective characteristics, in accordance with housing legislation and any other applicable legislation.
b) The right to consult the competent Administrations regarding the urban planning situation of the dwelling and the building in which it is located.
c) The execution of conservation, rehabilitation, universal accessibility, expansion or improvement works, in accordance with the conditions established by the competent Administration and, where applicable, the enabling title for such actions, when this is legally required.
2. The competent authorities in housing matters are responsible for ensuring the full exercise of housing ownership rights, acting in a concerted and coordinated manner in promoting the actions provided for in the legislation and in the applicable plans and programmes to promote access to housing. To this end, any measures provided for in the legislation on the matter may be adopted and implemented, and in particular, the following:
a) Public aid and subsidies.
b) Tax incentives.
c) Direct management by Public Administrations or their instrumental entities, or in collaboration with third parties, of public housing stocks.
d) Collaboration with third sector entities whose social objectives are linked to housing, to facilitate the management of housing belonging to public parks, as well as the management of their own social housing park.
e) Promotion of private initiative through agreements with the owners of homes for their transfer to the competent public administrations or other formulas to favour the increase in the supply of social or affordable rentals.
f) Actions to promote intermediation in the housing rental market to facilitate effective occupation.
Article 11. Content of the right to property in housing: duties and burdens.
1. In addition to the duties established in state land legislation based on the basic situation of the land on which the dwelling is located, in accordance with the applicable legislation on territorial and urban planning, the right of ownership of the dwelling is delimited by its social function and includes the following duties:
a) Own and effective use and enjoyment of the dwelling in accordance with its classification, condition and objective characteristics, in accordance with housing legislation and other applicable legislation, guaranteeing in all cases the social function of the property.
b) Maintenance, conservation and, where appropriate, rehabilitation of housing in accordance with the terms of this law, the legislation on territorial, urban and housing planning, and the instruments approved under it.
c) Avoid overcrowding or leasing for uses and activities that do not comply with the legally required habitability requirements and conditions.
d) In the sale or rental operations of the home, comply with the information obligations established in the applicable regulations and in Title IV of this law.
e) If the property is located in an area with a tense residential market, comply with the obligations of collaboration with the competent Administration and supply of information in the terms established in Title II of this law.
2. The competent authorities in housing matters are responsible for declaring non-compliance with the duties associated with the ownership of housing, authorizing them to adopt, ex officio or at the request of a party and after hearing, in any case, the obligated party, any measures provided for by the legislation on territorial and urban planning and housing.
TITLE II
Action by public authorities in housing matters
CHAPTER I
General principles of public action in housing matters
Article 12. State action in housing, rehabilitation, regeneration and urban renewal.
1. With the aim of promoting the effective exercise of the right of all citizens to enjoy decent and adequate housing, and within the scope of its powers, the State will carry out the necessary planning with its corresponding financing in order to facilitate the effective exercise of the right to housing, as well as to promote the conservation and improvement of the residential stock and its built environment, paying special attention to those groups, individuals and families with greater access difficulties or who may be at risk of residential exclusion and with special attention to those families, households and cohabitation units with minors in their care.
2. The State, in application of the principle of cooperation, may collaborate, in accordance with its own planning, in the financing of the plans approved by the autonomous communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla in the area of housing, rehabilitation, regeneration and urban renewal, and will propose, within the Sectoral Conference, its own strategic lines, plans and measures that promote said equality and strengthen territorial balance, establishing the appropriate monitoring and evaluation indicators.
3. The State’s action in this matter, within the scope of its powers, must prioritize the care and application of assistance programs for those individuals, families and cohabitation units that find themselves in situations of greatest social and economic vulnerability identified by social services, and in housing emergency due to being affected by eviction or foreclosure proceedings from their habitual residence, and must promote their adequate rehousing and access to decent and adequate housing, taking into account their conditions of social and economic vulnerability, as well as their personal and family circumstances, thereby strengthening the cooperation mechanisms with the competent territorial administrations.
4. The State’s collaboration in these areas must consider the necessary territorial approach to housing, rehabilitation, regeneration and renovation policies, adopting measures to meet housing needs both in urban and metropolitan environments and in rural areas, in municipalities that may be affected by depopulation, promoting specific programs with social rental housing, affordable and appropriate to each social, economic and territorial context.
Article 13. Commitment to universal accessibility in the housing stock.
1. The State, within the scope of its powers or in collaboration with other administrations, will articulate measures to guarantee the universal accessibility of housing parks, promoting their adaptation to the functional needs of their residents or recipients, with special attention to disabilities arising due to age, accident, acquired illness or other causes, and to families, households and cohabitation units with minors in their care, attending to the specific needs of housing in rural areas.
2. In order to make effective the right of people with disabilities and those who, due to their advanced age, need accessible housing, as well as to adequately address the rights of minors who are part of a family nucleus or cohabitation unit, in all newly built housing and in those subject to intervention that require a project as provided for in article 2.2 of Law 38/1999, of November 5, on Building Regulations, compliance with the accessibility conditions and compliance with the regulations on accessibility will be guaranteed and, in the case of housing that pre-existed before the aforementioned regulations came into force, the application of effective adaptation measures will be promoted, applying aid programs for this purpose, which will be added to the application of the reserve funds of the communities of owners.
Article 14. Situations of special vulnerability.
1. Housing policies will take into special account people, families and cohabitation units living in highly vulnerable and segregated settlements and neighbourhoods, whether in urban or rural environments, homeless people, people with disabilities, minors at risk of poverty or social exclusion, minors in care who are no longer in care, and any other vulnerable people defined at the time of the action.
2. To this end, the competent authorities in housing matters may identify within their territorial scope the areas that require urban regeneration and renewal actions to advance the eradication of substandard housing situations, through integrated actions that prevent and remedy the social and residential exclusion of the resident population.
3. In addition, in order to combat the phenomenon of homelessness, it is the responsibility of the competent Administrations, in accordance with the provisions of their regulatory framework, to plan specific measures to address it, promoting within their territorial scope access to housing solutions in adequate conditions for people experiencing homelessness and the full inclusion of homeless people from an integrated and intersectoral perspective, and enabling adequate complementarity between the different policies, resources and services, especially in the health, social, educational and employment fields.
Article 15. Right of access to housing and territorial and urban planning.
1. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the basic conditions of equality in the exercise of the relevant rights established by this law, and within the framework of the provisions of the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30, the following basic criteria are established in the field of territorial and urban planning:
a) In order to expand the supply of social or public housing, the territorial and urban planning instruments:
1. They may establish as compatible use of public land, the use intended for the construction of public housing.
2. They may establish the acquisition of land for social or public housing, charged to the urban transformation actions provided for by the corresponding instruments, when so established by the territorial and urban planning legislation and under the conditions set by it.
(b) In order to adapt housing to demand and facilitate access to decent and adequate housing, territorial and urban planning will promote the application of building typologies and types of housing and accommodation that adapt to the different forms of coexistence, housing and the demands of the life cycle of households, taking into account, where appropriate, the casuistry of the rural environment. These actions may be both urban transformation and building, in accordance with article 7 of the consolidated text of the Law on Land and Urban Rehabilitation, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30.
(c) The classification of land as a reserve for housing subject to a public protection regime, as referred to in letter b) of section 1 of article 20 of the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015 of 30 October, may not be modified, except in exceptional cases where the urban planning instrument justifies the unnecessary use of this type of housing or the sudden impossibility of such use, regardless of whether the conditions or characteristics of the protected housing may be modified to meet the demand and needs of the territorial area.
(d) The legislation on territorial or urban planning shall establish, for the land reserved for housing subject to some public protection regime, as set out in letter b) of section 1 of article 20 of the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of 30 October, the percentage that must be allocated to housing subject to some public rental protection regime. This percentage may not be less than 50%, except in exceptional cases where the urban planning instrument justifies it, taking into account the characteristics of the persons requesting housing or other circumstances of the economic and social reality.
(e) In order to guarantee the right of access to housing in municipalities in which one or more areas have been declared as areas of stressed residential market, in accordance with the procedure established in article 18.2 of this law, the land obtained in compliance with the duty regulated by letter b) of section 1 of article 18 of the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30, must necessarily be used for the construction and management of social or public housing, and may not be replaced by any other public or social interest use or by other forms of compliance with the duty, unless the need to use it for other social interest uses is proven.
2. In the actions of reform or renewal of urbanization on urbanized land established in article 7 of the consolidated text of the Law on Land and Urban Rehabilitation, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30, which affect residential environments, formulas will be sought that ensure territorial cohesion and attend to the social and economic reality of resident households, in the terms established by the legislation on territorial and urban planning of the competent administrations.
3. In regulating uses in residential environments in urban areas, the legislation on territorial and urban planning will establish effective instruments to ensure balance, preserve the quality of life and access to housing, and ensure compliance with the principle of sustainable territorial and urban development contained in article 3 of the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30.
4. For the effective development of the actions referred to in section 2, the Autonomous Communities and the City Councils may agree, ex officio or at the request of the interested party, to apply the urgent processing procedure in the urban planning instruments expressly provided for in the corresponding territorial and urban planning legislation.
Article 16. Protected housing.
1. Without prejudice to the conditions and requirements established by the legislation and regulations at the regional or municipal level, which will in any case have a prevailing character, protected housing will be governed by the following principles:
a) The dwelling must be used exclusively as a habitual residence and be occupied during the periods of time established as minimums in the applicable legislation and regulations.
b) The allocation of housing must follow a procedure that ensures transparency, subject to objective criteria that ensure public participation and give priority to persons or groups of applicants who are registered in the public registers established by the public administrations with jurisdiction over housing, taking into account the order established in the aforementioned public registers.
c) Persons awarded protected housing may not:
1. Be the holders of full ownership or a real right of use or enjoyment of no other dwelling, except in the event of a subsequent inadequacy of the dwelling they occupy for their personal or family circumstances or other duly accredited objective circumstances.
2. Exceeding the maximum income level, based on the characteristics of the cohabitation unit, established by the regulatory regulations.
d) Protected housing that is promoted on land whose purpose is that of housing subject to some public protection regime in compliance with the provisions of letter b) of section 1 of article 20, of the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30, will be subject to a permanent public protection regime that excludes disqualification, as long as the qualification of said land is maintained.
In all other cases, protected housing will be subject to a permanent public protection regime with the exceptions that may exceptionally be provided for by regional regulations in the event that there is a duly justified cause for its disqualification or for the establishment of a qualification period with the setting of the number of years of this, which must be at least 30 years.
In such a case, the return of all or part of the aid received may be established in the event of the sale of the dwelling after its disqualification, as established in its regulatory regulations.
In any case, the promotion of protected housing on land whose urban classification does not require such a purpose and which has not received public aid for its promotion will be considered a justified cause for the above purposes.
e) Its sale or rental will be subject to prior authorization from the Autonomous Community while the dwelling remains subject to the corresponding public protection regime and such authorization may only be granted to persons who meet the requirements provided for in the corresponding regulations to access protected housing, when they meet the following conditions:
1. It is carried out primarily in favor of persons or groups of plaintiffs registered in the public registers provided for this purpose by regional or municipal regulations, taking into account the order established in the aforementioned public registers.
2. The sale or rental price does not exceed the maximum established for this purpose.
The Administration may exercise, within a period not exceeding the maximum legal period for granting the authorization, the rights of first refusal or preferential acquisition and within another equal period after said granting, the rights of withdrawal or preferential acquisition established, where appropriate, by the applicable regional legislation.
2. The competent Administrations may arbitrate the necessary mechanisms to achieve the conditions indicated in the previous section, which may be articulated through specific protocols and agreements with notaries and property registrars.
Article 17. Affordable housing encouraged.
1. In order to increase the supply of housing at prices appropriate to the economic situation of households in each territorial area, the public authorities, within the scope of their respective powers, may promote the existence of affordable housing with incentives, which will be subject, for guidance purposes and without prejudice to what is established in this regard by the competent administrations, to the following rules:
a) Subjection of the dwelling to specific destination limitations for a certain period of time and to maximum rental price limits, which will be proportional and adjusted to the public benefits obtained, whether urban, fiscal, or of any other nature, determined by the Administration that grants them.
b) Purpose of the dwelling exclusively as the habitual residence of the tenant, who has difficulty accessing housing at market prices, in accordance with the criteria set by the competent Administration.
c) It is not necessary for the dwelling to be subject to the formal procedure for qualification as protected housing. However, it will be subject to the procedural rules determined by the competent Administration to guarantee compliance with the conditions indicated in this article.
2. Affordable housing may be newly developed or existing housing, provided that in any case they meet the legally established requirements, which ensure the suitability and quality of the housing, contributing to promoting social cohesion.
3. In rural areas subject to population loss, affordable housing may support the development of strategies for social and economic revitalization, as well as the creation of employment and activity in such areas.
4. Urban planning instruments may promote the placing on the market of housing for rent for specific periods of time and at affordable prices, allowing increases in buildability or density or the assignment of new uses to a dwelling or a residential building, included in areas delimited for this purpose.
Article 18. Declaration of areas with stressed residential markets.
1. The competent administrations in housing matters may declare, in accordance with the criteria and procedures established in their regulatory regulations and within the scope of their respective powers, areas of stressed residential market for the purposes of guiding public actions in housing matters in those territorial areas where there is a particular risk of insufficient housing supply for the population, in conditions that make it affordable for access in the market, in accordance with the different territorial needs.
2. Without prejudice to the foregoing, and for the purposes of applying the specific measures contemplated in this law, the declaration of areas of stressed residential market must be made by the competent Administration in housing matters in accordance with the following rules:
(a) The declaration must be preceded by a preparatory procedure aimed at obtaining information related to the situation of the residential market in the area, including indicators of rental and sale prices for different types of housing and their evolution over time; indicators of the level of disposable income of resident households and their evolution over time which, together with housing prices, allow the evolution of the economic effort that households have to make to have a decent and adequate home to be measured. For this purpose, the homogeneous territorial areas of the residential use value maps prepared by the General Directorate of Cadastre of the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration, within the framework of its annual reports on the real estate market, in accordance with the third final provision of the consolidated text of the Real Estate Cadastre Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2004, of March 5, may be taken into account with regard to the distribution of sale prices.
b) The declaration of a territorial area as a stressed residential market zone will entail carrying out an information process in which the information on which such declaration is based must be made available to the public, including studies of the spatial distribution of the population and households, their structure and dynamics, as well as zoning by supply, prices and types of housing, or any other study that makes it possible to demonstrate or prevent imbalances and processes of socio-spatial segregation to the detriment of social and territorial cohesion.
(c) The decision on the delimitation procedure by the competent Housing Authority must be motivated by deficiencies or insufficiencies in the housing market in the area, in any of its forms, to adequately meet the demand for habitual housing and, in any case, at a reasonable price according to the socioeconomic situation of the resident population and the demographic dynamics, as well as the particularities and characteristics of each territorial area. The aforementioned decision must be communicated to the General Secretariat of Urban Agenda and Housing of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.
(d) The validity of the declaration of a territorial area as a stressed residential market zone will be three years, and may be extended annually following the same procedure, when the circumstances that motivated such declaration persist and upon prior justification of the public measures and actions adopted to reverse or improve the situation since the previous declaration. For the application of the measures contained in this law, on a quarterly basis the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda will approve a resolution that includes the list of stressed residential market zones that have been declared by virtue of the procedure established in this article.
3. The declaration of a stressed residential market area established in the previous section will require the preparation of a report justifying, through objective data and based on the existence of a special risk of insufficient housing supply for the resident population, including the dynamics of forming new households, in conditions that make it affordable, due to the occurrence of one of the following circumstances:
a) That the average burden of the cost of the mortgage or rent on the personal budget or that of the cohabitation unit, plus basic expenses and supplies, exceeds thirty percent of the average income or the average household income.
b) That the purchase or rental price of the home has experienced, in the five years prior to being declared an area of stressed housing market, a cumulative growth percentage at least three percentage points higher than the cumulative growth percentage of the consumer price index of the corresponding autonomous community.
4. The declaration, in accordance with this procedure, of a territorial area as a stressed residential market zone will entail the drafting, by the competent Administration, of a specific plan that will propose the measures necessary to correct the imbalances highlighted in its declaration, as well as its development schedule.
5. The Ministerial Department responsible for housing, within the framework of the exercise of state powers, may develop, in agreement with the competent territorial administration, a specific programme for these areas of stressed residential market, which will take into account territorial diversity, both in urban or metropolitan environments and in rural areas, which will modify or be annexed to the current state housing plan, and will enable the State to:
a) Promote collaboration formulas with the competent administrations and with the private sector to stimulate the supply of affordable housing in this area and its surroundings.
b) The design and adoption of specific financing measures for that territorial area that could help contain or reduce rental or sales prices.
c) The establishment of additional specific public measures or aid within the current state housing plan, in accordance with the provisions established therein, where appropriate.
6. The application of the programme established in the previous section may involve the adoption of measures within the Financial Coordination Commission for Real Estate and Asset Actions, aimed at promoting an increase in the supply of social and affordable housing incentivised in accordance with the provisions of the second additional provision of this law.
Article 19. Collaboration and provision of information from large holders in areas of stressed residential market.
1. In the development of the general interest service established in this law, large housing owners shall be obliged to collaborate with the public administrations responsible for housing. To this end, the public administrations responsible for housing may require large housing owners in areas of stressed residential market declared in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of the previous article to comply with the obligation to collaborate and provide information on the use and destination of the housing owned by them that is located in such areas of stressed residential market.
2. To this end, the report accompanying the proposal for the declaration of a stressed residential market area referred to in section 3 of the previous article shall define the criteria for consideration of a large housing owner in a stressed residential market area, based on their potential influence, due to the volume of residential properties owned by them in the rental market in said area, which, based on the definition of a large owner contained in article 3 of this law, may incorporate additional criteria in accordance with the reality and characteristics of the area or in accordance with the specific regulations of the competent Administration in matters of housing.
3. The information to be provided shall refer to the previous calendar year, at the request of the Public Administrations responsible for housing, and must be communicated within a maximum period of three months from the aforementioned request, which shall include, with respect to the homes owned by the large holder in the stressed residential market area, at least the following data:
a) The identifying data of the dwelling and the building in which it is located, including the postal address, year of construction and, where applicable, year and type of renovation, constructed area for private use by use, cadastral reference and energy rating.
b) Regime of effective use of housing, in the context of the uses provided for in the territorial and urban planning instruments.
c) Justification of compliance with the duties associated with home ownership, established in article 11 of this law.
4. Taking into account the information provided in accordance with the provisions of the previous section, Public Administrations may establish formulas for collaboration with owners in order to promote the increase in the supply of affordable rentals in the area.
CHAPTER II
Collaboration and cooperation between public administrations in housing matters
Article 20. Collaboration between public administrations in housing matters.
1. With the aim of cooperating in the objectives of housing policy, and especially in the services of general interest included in article 4 of this law or those included in the regulations of the competent administrations, the public administrations, their public bodies and associated or dependent entities will develop the principles of collaboration and cooperation in matters of housing, rehabilitation, regeneration and urban renewal, among others, in the following areas:
a) Sharing the information that each administration or entity has or produces relating to these matters.
b) Through the General Action Protocols or agreements signed by the parties to agree on specific areas and commitments for action, whether in the development of state plans, those referring to areas declared as areas of stressed residential market, or others agreed upon by the administrations involved.
c) Through agreements approved by the cooperation bodies in this area.
2. The administrative instruments of collaboration that are formalized in the area of housing, rehabilitation, regeneration and urban renewal may have a duration of up to 80 years, when so required for the execution of the actions contained therein, either due to their management complexity or due to the nature of what is agreed between the parties.
Article 21. Bodies for Cooperation in Housing and Land Matters.
The following bodies for cooperation in housing and land matters are established:
a) Sectoral Conference on Housing and Land: This is the highest body for cooperation in these matters between the State, the autonomous communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. It will meet at least once a year and will be chaired by the head of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.
b) Multilateral Commission on Housing and Land: It will be chaired by the head of the General Secretariat for Urban Agenda and Housing, and will bring together the heads of the General Directorates responsible for these matters. It will meet at least once a year, and will assess compliance with the agreements and guidelines issued by the Sectoral Conference, and will propose the issues that are agreed to be submitted to this Body.
c) Bilateral Housing and Land Commissions: these will bring together the competent General Directorates of the State and each autonomous community or city of Ceuta and Melilla, with the aim of monitoring, adopting agreements, or establishing coordination criteria between both administrations.
Article 22. Interministerial coordination.
The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, or the Ministerial Department responsible for housing, is responsible for coordinating and promoting initiatives that affect housing, rehabilitation, regeneration and urban and rural renewal, in cooperation with other Ministries that may address specific aspects related to these matters.
This Ministerial Department is also responsible for proposing strategies or measures related to these matters to the Council of Ministers or to the Government’s Delegated Commission for Economic Affairs.
CHAPTER III
State action in housing matters
Article 23. State planning and programming in housing matters.
1. The General State Administration will contribute, in collaboration with other public administrations in any of the ways permitted by the legislation regulating the public sector regime, to guarantee the constitutional right to enjoy decent and adequate housing through the fiscal, economic, social and planning or programming policy instruments within its competence, taking into account the economic, financial and social reality, in favour of territorial cohesion and the fight against depopulation.
2. In order to fulfil the purpose of the law, the planning and programming instruments of the General State Administration will support the competent territorial Administrations in the execution of housing policies which, after analysing and determining the needs, ensure the existence of a sufficient and adequate supply of housing in affordable conditions, promoting the rational use of land and favouring the efficient occupation of the residential stock, and ensuring that such instruments have an adequate budgetary allocation.
To this end, the planning and programming of the General State Administration, within the framework of achieving the objectives established in this law, will promote and encourage as a priority:
a) The rehabilitation and improvement of existing housing, as well as the promotion of housing aimed at the formation of public housing parks.
b) The existence of housing modalities that adapt to social needs.
c) The adequate provision of assistance programmes specifically aimed at people and households with the greatest difficulties in accessing housing, with special attention to young people and households subject to greater vulnerability, as well as families, households and cohabitation units with minors in their care.
Article 24. State plans for housing and rehabilitation, regeneration and urban and rural renewal.
1. The State’s main instruments of action in housing policy will be the State plans for housing and for urban and rural rehabilitation, regeneration and renewal. These plans, in coordination with other State strategies and with other sectoral public policies, will include multi-year planning, which may be linked to measures relating to financing, taxation, regulation, support for the provision of housing at affordable prices through public-private collaboration formulas that allow the creation of an affordable housing fund or any other type, which are useful for promoting access to housing and improving the quality of the residential stock and its built environment and contributing to the achievement of the objectives of the plans.
2. State plans for housing, rehabilitation, regeneration and urban and rural renewal will consist of programmes that will promote and support the following actions as a priority:
a) Those that promote the rational and efficient occupation of residential assets.
b) The conservation, maintenance, rehabilitation and improvement of dwellings that are intended or will be used as habitual residence, as well as the regeneration and renovation of their built environment, favouring comprehensive approaches that guarantee universal accessibility.
c) The actions necessary for the creation, expansion and management of public housing stocks, both arising from new construction and rehabilitation, aimed primarily at meeting the housing needs of individuals, families and cohabitation units in situations of greater social and economic vulnerability.
d) The construction and rehabilitation of housing subject to some public protection regime.
e) The promotion of new forms of housing and urban and rural development that adapt to social needs, as well as actions aimed at facilitating citizens’ access to housing subject to some form of public protection regime, including financial instruments that promote public-private mechanisms.
f) Actions aimed at facilitating access to housing for young people, as well as guaranteeing decent and adequate housing for people in situations of greater social vulnerability, shanty towns, substandard housing or in housing emergencies.
The identification of the above actions should incorporate a territorial perspective that allows for the establishment of specific measures to address the needs of the different territorial environments and, specifically, those of small municipalities affected by aging or depopulation processes.
The development of the actions provided for in letters c) and f) may serve to address the mediation and conciliation procedures prior to filing the claim, as well as to assist people and households subject to vulnerability in the procedures set out in articles 439, 655 bis and 685 of Law 1/2000, of January 7, on Civil Procedure.
3. In order to avoid speculation, in addition to the limitations established in this law for protected housing, state plans may establish in the application of their programs measures to socially redistribute the benefit obtained, where appropriate, as a result of the alienation, within the time limit established by said plans, of housing that has obtained public aid for the execution of rehabilitation, regeneration and urban or rural renewal works, either through the return of the aid, or other measures that are established.
4. It is the responsibility of the Government, after hearing the Autonomous Communities within the Sectoral Conference on Housing and Land, to approve the Plans that specify and develop the State economic policy in the area of housing and that contain the measures that, in each case, are established, in accordance with the provisions of the previous sections. These State Plans may contribute to the financing of the plans that are approved by the Autonomous Communities or the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, under the terms and conditions established for this purpose, without prejudice to and in a complementary manner to the financing applied for this purpose by the same.
5. State plans for housing, rehabilitation, regeneration and urban and rural renewal shall establish programmes to promote access to the right to decent and adequate housing by the most vulnerable individuals, families and cohabitation units, in order to promote in all cases a solution to housing emergencies due to the loss, threat of loss, inadequate housing or absence of housing. They shall also incorporate specific programmes to promote the supply of sufficient and adequate housing in order to reverse the difficulty in accessing housing, especially in areas declared as having a stressed residential market in accordance with the provisions of this law.
Article 25. Public-private collaboration and affordable housing fund.
1. Support for the provision of affordable housing through public-private partnerships that enable the creation of an affordable housing fund, referred to in the previous article, may be carried out through joint work mechanisms between Public Administrations and the main associations of private housing management entities and third sector entities, which enable the fulfilment of the social function of housing.
2. This type of mechanism will promote the creation and expansion of a privately owned affordable housing fund while, within the framework of collaboration with territorial administrations, progress is made in strengthening public housing stocks.
3. The objective of the affordable housing fund will be to provide territorial administrations with new instruments to serve public housing policies, generating a stock of affordable housing or social housing, especially in those areas where it is necessary to restore the balance between supply and demand for rental housing, contributing to the moderation of prices. To this end, the specific needs of the different territorial areas must be considered, both in urban and metropolitan areas and in small municipalities in depopulated areas, and the characteristics of each market.
4. The affordable housing fund will be regulated through specific agreements with associations of private entities managing rental housing, third sector entities, or the main operators, which will have the following specific objectives:
a) Provide a response and support, in coordination with social services and third sector entities, to people and families with fewer resources, avoiding evictions in vulnerable situations, and establishing collaboration protocols between public administrations and private housing management entities.
b) Increase the stock of social and affordable housing, especially in areas with stressed residential markets.
c) Promote the commitment to allocate a minimum percentage of its housing stock to social or affordable housing.
In defining these objectives, a territorial perspective must be incorporated to address the needs of the different territorial environments and, specifically, those of small municipalities affected by ageing or depopulation processes.
5. In the event that the competent administrations in housing matters have established an affordable housing fund in their legislation, they may benefit from the provisions of this article together with the provisions of their own regulations.
Article 26. Housing Advisory Council.
1. In order to ensure the participation of the various social agents in the elaboration and development of housing policy, the Housing Advisory Council will be the collegiate, technical, advisory and consultative body of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda in matters of state programming of housing policy.
This Council may be made up of representatives from the various Ministerial Departments with responsibilities related to housing, business associations, professional associations and colleges, financial institutions, third sector associations, the social economy and associations representing interests affected by the law. Various professionals who are experts in housing, as well as from the university and research fields, may also form part of the Council.
2. The creation of the Housing Advisory Council will be established by regulation, defining its composition, powers and operation.
TITLE III
Public housing parks
Article 27. Concept, purpose and financing.
1. The purpose of public housing parks is to contribute to the proper functioning of the housing market and to serve as an instrument for the various public administrations responsible for housing to make effective the right to decent and adequate housing for those sectors of the population that have the greatest difficulties in accessing the market, with special attention to young people and groups subject to greater vulnerability.
Through state housing plans and other complementary measures adopted within the scope of the different sectoral public policies, the conservation, improvement and expansion of public housing stocks will be encouraged, establishing specific objectives in relation to the number of households in each territorial area, and other territorial, social and economic variables.
Public housing parks, specifically regulated by regional legislation on housing, urban planning and land use, may be made up of at least:
a) Public housing.
b) Social and protected housing built on publicly owned land, as well as those built under the right of surface, usufruct or transfer of use and for rent with option to purchase, during the time in which the corresponding option is not activated.
c) Social housing acquired by public authorities in the exercise of the rights of first refusal and redemption, in accordance with the provisions of applicable legislation, and housing acquired through these same rights, in cases of foreclosure or payment in lieu of habitual housing of groups in vulnerable situations or in social exclusion, as provided for in regional legislation.
d) Social housing acquired by Public Administrations in urban regeneration or renewal actions, including those integrated into real estate complexes, both free of charge by virtue of compliance with the corresponding urban planning duties and charges, and for a fee.
e) Any other social housing acquired by or transferred to Public Administrations with powers over housing.
2. In order to ensure the financing of the creation, expansion, rehabilitation or improvement of public housing stock, the economic amounts corresponding to the deposits of the rental contracts deposited in the corresponding regional registers may be used pursuant to the provisions of the third additional provision of Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases, except for the mandatory reserve of a return guarantee, and by the Administrations that have been assigned such competence of management of deposits of security.
3. Income from penalties imposed for failure to comply with the social function of home ownership, as well as income from the management and, where appropriate, sale of assets that form part of the public housing stock, must be allocated to the creation, expansion, rehabilitation or improvement of public housing stocks, in accordance with the terms established in the legislation and regulations that regulate them.
Article 28. Guiding criteria for the management of public housing stocks.
1. For the management of public housing stocks and the fulfilment of their purposes, the Public Administrations responsible for housing and their attached or dependent entities, in accordance with the provisions of their applicable legislation and regulations, and without prejudice to the specific criteria established therein, may:
a) Create, expand and manage, directly or indirectly and on land under its ownership, including land obtained for public facilities, public housing parks, carrying out, where appropriate, the development of the land in accordance with territorial and urban planning.
b) Grant surface rights or administrative concessions to third parties to build, rehabilitate and/or manage public housing, provided that public ownership of the land is guaranteed, through the corresponding procedures that guarantee transparency and public participation in the granting of these rights.
c) Allocate public resources to non-profit entities with the aim of making the management of housing in public parks more efficient and closer, provided that such management remains reserved for such entities or the corresponding territorial Administration or instrumental entity and that the allocation is carried out in accordance with the objectives of covering the right to housing and in accordance with the regulatory standards.
d) Transfer the assets comprising public housing parks, through the procedures permitted by applicable legislation, only to other Public Administrations, their instrumental entities or to non-profit legal persons dedicated to the management of housing for social purposes, and through the obligation on the part of the new owner(s) to abide by the conditions, terms and maximum rents established, subrogating themselves in their rights and obligations.
2. In developing the actions provided for in the previous section, special attention must be paid to the particularities of each territorial environment, in order to carry out the type of management and actions most in line with the social, economic and territorial characteristics of the demand.
Article 29. Purpose of public housing parks.
1. The dwellings comprising public housing parks are intended, in accordance with the provisions of specific legislation and other applicable regulations, to guarantee the right of access to housing for people and households with the greatest difficulties in accessing housing on the market, due to their social and economic circumstances, taking into account specific vulnerability factors such as the presence of minors in the home or cohabitation unit, as well as the characteristics and particularities of the territorial area.
2. The occupation and enjoyment of housing that forms part of public parks may take place, in accordance with the corresponding legislation and applicable regulations, under a rental regime, transfer of use, or any other legal forms of temporary tenure under the rental conditions and with the requirements established by the respective public administrations based on the existing demand, the socioeconomic conditions of the persons, families and cohabitation units to be covered and the characteristics of the housing market, incorporating criteria of inclusion, social cohesion and affordability.
3. The Public Administrations responsible for housing are responsible for developing systems to assess compliance with these requirements in public housing stocks in accordance with the provisions of the applicable legislation and regulations, in order to guarantee the efficient use of public resources and the joint responsibility of the occupants of the housing.
TITLE IV
Protection and transparency measures in home purchase and rental operations
CHAPTER I
General rights regime and basic information
Article 30. Basic principles of rights, powers and responsibilities.
1. The rights of persons claiming, purchasing or renting housing, or in any other legal regime of ownership and enjoyment, are:
a) Those recognized in the consolidated text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users and other complementary laws, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of November 16, and in the applicable regional legislation.
b) To receive information, including that provided through advertising media, in a format accessible to people with disabilities or understanding difficulties, which is complete, objective, truthful, clear, understandable and accessible, on the characteristics of the homes, their services and facilities and the legal and economic conditions of their acquisition, lease, transfer or use.
2. All agents operating in the housing construction and rehabilitation sector and the provision of real estate services, who are authorized to transfer, lease and assign housing in their own name or on behalf of others, such as developers, property owners and other holders of property rights, real estate agents and property managers, must comply in their activity with the duty of complete, objective, truthful, clear, comprehensible and accessible information in accordance with the provisions of this law, as well as in the legislation on the protection of consumers and users when it concerns relations between consumers or users and entrepreneurs, the advertising they carry out being subject to the general legislation that regulates it, with a prohibition, in particular, of any advertising acts with insufficient, deficient or misleading information.
3. For the purposes of the preceding sections, information or advertising is understood to be any form of communication directed at housing applicants, users or the general public with the aim of directly or indirectly promoting the transfer, leasing and any other form of transfer of housing. Information that omits essential data or contains it in terms that may mislead recipients or produce economic or legal repercussions that are not admissible, by disturbing the peaceful enjoyment of housing under normal conditions of use, is understood to be incomplete, insufficient or deficient.
Article 31. Minimum information for housing purchase and rental operations.
1. Without prejudice to the principles and requirements contained in the applicable regional regulations and as a minimum, the person interested in purchasing or renting a home that is on offer may request, before formalizing the transaction and paying any amount on account, the following information, in an accessible format and on a durable medium, about the conditions of the transaction and the characteristics of the aforementioned home and the building in which it is located:
a) Identification of the seller or lessor and, where applicable, of the natural or legal person involved, within the framework of a professional or business activity, in the intermediation of the transaction.
b) Economic conditions of the operation: total price and concepts included therein, as well as the financing or payment conditions that, where applicable, may be established.
c) Essential characteristics of the dwelling and the building, including:
1. Certificate or certificate of habitability.
2. Certification of the useful and constructed surface area of the dwelling, differentiating in the case of horizontal division the private surface area from the common surface area, and in no case may the surfaces of the dwelling with a height lower than that required by the regulatory regulations be taken into account for these purposes.
3. Age of the building and, where applicable, of the main renovations or actions carried out on it.
4. Services and facilities available in the home, both individual and common.
5. Energy efficiency certificate for the home.
6. Accessibility conditions of the home and the building.
7. Status of occupancy or availability of the dwelling.
d) Legal information of the property: the property’s registration identification, with reference to the charges, encumbrances and liens of any nature, and the participation quota established in the title deed.
e) In the case of protected housing, express indication of such circumstance and of its subjection to the legal protection regime applicable to it.
f) In the case of buildings that officially have architectural protection because they are part of a declared environment or due to their particular architectural or historical value, information will be provided on the degree of protection and the conditions and limitations for reform or rehabilitation interventions.
g) Any other information that may be relevant to the person interested in purchasing or renting the property, including territorial, urban, physical-technical, heritage protection, or administrative aspects related to it.
2. Under the same terms as established in the previous section, the person interested in purchasing or renting a home may request information about the detection of asbestos or other substances dangerous or harmful to health.
3. When the dwelling to be leased as a habitual residence is located in an area with a tense residential market, the owner and, where applicable, the person involved in the intermediation of the transaction must indicate this circumstance and inform, prior to the formalization of the lease, and in any case in the contract document, of the amount of the last rent of the habitual residence lease contract that has been in force in the last five years in the same dwelling, as well as the value that may correspond to it according to the reference index of rental prices for dwellings that is applicable.
CHAPTER II
Information and transparency in housing and land
Article 32. Public housing stock.
1. The State, in compliance with the principle of collaboration and cooperation, as well as in guaranteeing the principle of transparency in the manner implemented in accordance with the competent administrations, must prepare and maintain an updated inventory of the public housing stock owned by it and its affiliated or dependent entities, which will include, at least, the following information:
a) Identification of the dwellings that comprise it.
b) Fundamental characteristics of the dwellings.
c) Situation of use thereof.
d) Characteristics of the user persons or households.
2. A report on the characteristics of the public housing stock and its use, duly updated, will be prepared and published annually on the electronic site provided for in article 38 of Law 40/2015, of 1 October, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, to allow the creation of a map of social housing to facilitate access to it by citizens. Likewise, information will be collected on the actions planned to strengthen the social housing stock in the next four years.
Article 33. Investment in housing policy programs.
1. The State, in compliance with the principle of collaboration and cooperation, as well as to guarantee transparency, must detail the budget invested annually in the different housing policy programs, through the instruments of collaboration with the competent administrations, differentiating, at least, the following expenditure destinations:
a) Rental assistance for housing aimed at tenants.
b) Promotion of social or affordable rental housing.
c) Promotion of housing subject to some type of public protection.
d) Rental intermediation programs.
e) Aid for building rehabilitation, specifically differentiating those that improve energy efficiency and promote the use of renewable energy and accessibility.
f) Urban regeneration or renewal programs, specifying investment in actions in highly vulnerable settlements and neighborhoods, including relocation programs.
2. On an annual basis, the data indicated in the previous section must be published through the electronic headquarters provided for in article 38 of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, specifically indicating the amounts that, in these programs, have contributed to promoting access to the first home by young people.
Article 34. Characterization of the housing stock. Uninhabited or vacant housing.
1. The State, in compliance with the principle of collaboration and cooperation, as well as in order to guarantee the principle of transparency in the manner implemented in agreement with the competent administrations, and on the basis of its information and management systems, shall provide information on the use and destination of the housing stock in its territorial area, indicating, in aggregate terms, the number of homes or properties for residential use that are inhabited by households and constitute their main residence, as well as those that have been identified as uninhabited or empty within its territorial area, also including, in aggregate terms, the number of properties to which, where applicable, the tax surcharge established in article 72 of the consolidated text of the Law Regulating Local Finance has been applied, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, of March 5.
2. On an annual basis, the data indicated in the previous section must be published through the electronic headquarters provided for in article 38 of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, specifying the measures and actions aimed at optimizing the use of the housing stock in the territorial area.
Article 35. Characterization of housing demand.
1. The State, in compliance with the principle of collaboration and cooperation, as well as in order to guarantee the principle of transparency in the manner implemented in accordance with the competent administrations, must detail the number of persons and households registered in the registers of housing applicants authorized for access to the different housing access programs, differentiating those persons or households that currently reside in its territorial area from those applicants who reside in other territorial areas. Likewise, the main socioeconomic characteristics of the persons and households requesting housing will be established based on the information contained in the aforementioned registers.
2. On an annual basis, the data indicated in the previous section must be published through the electronic headquarters provided for in article 38 of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, specifying the actions carried out, in progress and planned to respond to the existing demand.
Article 36. Public land available for housing.
1. The State, in compliance with the principle of collaboration and cooperation, as well as in guarantee of transparency in the manner implemented in accordance with the competent administrations, must detail the available land owned by it and its affiliated or dependent entities, which is endowed with residential building potential by virtue of urban planning instruments, including, at least, the following information:
a) Number of dwellings, constructed area and building typology.
b) Situation of the land in terms of urbanization.
c) Situation in terms of urban classification and categorization, differentiating between consolidated urban land, non-consolidated urban land, delimited or sectorized developable land with detailed planning and delimited or sectorized developable land without detailed planning, or equivalent categories.
2. On an annual basis, the data indicated in the previous section must be published through the electronic headquarters provided for in article 38 of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, specifying the land that is part of the public land heritage, obtained in compliance with the legal duty of transfer established in letter b) of article 18.1 of the consolidated text of the Law on Land and Urban Rehabilitation, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30.
Additional provision one. Database of housing lease contracts and reinforcement of coordination in information on lease contracts.
1. For the development of the provisions of this law, a database of housing rental contracts will be created, based on the information contained in the current autonomous registers of deposits of the autonomous communities, in the Property Registry and other sources of information at the state, autonomous or local level, in order to increase the information available for the development of the Housing Rental Price Reference Index System established in the second additional provision of Royal Decree-Law 7/2019, of March 1, on urgent measures in housing and rental matters.
2. Mechanisms for collaboration with the autonomous communities and other organisations and institutions will be promoted in order to have accurate information on current housing rental contracts, through the data collected in the various autonomous and state registers, in order to adequately monitor the set of measures included in this law and determine progress in meeting the objectives of increasing the supply of rental housing at affordable prices.
3. Upon entry into force of the law, a specific process of collaboration will be initiated between the Ministerial Department responsible for housing and the autonomous communities that have developed rental price reference systems in their respective territorial areas to ensure collaboration between systems, attention to territorial specificities that must be taken into account, as well as the establishment of deadlines to expedite their effective application.
Second additional provision. Priority of housing policy in the management of State assets.
1. The management of heritage assets must contribute to the development and implementation of the various public policies in force and, in particular, to the housing policy, in coordination with the competent Administrations.
To this end, the Financial Coordination Commission for Real Estate and Asset Actions will guide public real estate actions towards meeting the general objectives of this policy, and specifically, with respect to those areas declared under this law to be a stressed residential market:
a) It will adopt the necessary agreements that establish specific conditions regarding the destination, typology, recipients or other specificities in the different patrimonial businesses of the General State Administration and its Public Agencies.
b) Analyze the assets of the General State Administration and the Public Bodies attached to it, with the aim of identifying possible opportunities for land or other properties that can be reused for residential purposes.
c) Promote the necessary agreements between the different Ministerial Departments, and specifically between the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, responsible for housing policy, and the Public Bodies responsible for the management of the real estate assets of the Ministries of Defense and the Interior, in order to find formulas for collaboration that allow for the promotion of actions to foster the supply of affordable housing.
2. Prior to the initiation of any procedure for the alienation of properties owned by the State or its Public Agencies, the land of which is classified by the planning as residential, or as public land when the regulations allow residential use for rent, the General Directorate of State Assets or the agency owning the property will request a report from the General Secretariat of Urban Agenda and Housing of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, in order to classify the affected residential market, indicate whether the property is subject to any of the management criteria adopted by the Financial Coordination Commission for Real Estate and Asset Actions in accordance with the provisions of the previous section or, where appropriate, propose, in the manner provided for in article 92.3 of the General Regulations of Law 33/2003, of November 3, on the Assets of Public Administrations, approved by Royal Decree 1373/2009, of August 28, that the alienation be carried out through competition.
This report will not be necessary when the alienation is for housing and is to be carried out by direct award to its occupants in the cases permitted by law, or when it involves the alienation of undivided shares in residential plots or already built housing.
Third additional provision. Review of the criteria for identifying areas with stressed residential markets.
The circumstances established in article 18.3 for the identification of areas of stressed residential market will be subject to review three years after the entry into force of the law, to adapt them to the reality and evolution of the residential market, on the basis of cooperation with the competent Administrations in housing matters.
Fourth additional provision. Application of resources from state housing plans in mediation and conciliation procedures.
In the development of the mediation and conciliation procedures prior to filing the claim, as well as in the attention to people and households subject to vulnerability in the procedures set out in articles 439, 655 bis and 685 of Law 1/2000, of January 7, on Civil Procedure, the Autonomous Communities, Ceuta and Melilla may apply the resources of the state plans in matters of housing to cover the costs of the process as well as the compensations that may be agreed upon at the request of the owners of the affected properties, or by decision of the competent administration in matters of housing, in the terms established in the applicable autonomous legislation and regulations, in order to guarantee decent and adequate housing.
Additional provision five. Working group for the regulation of lease contracts for uses other than housing.
Within six months of the law coming into force, a working group will be set up to advance a regulatory proposal to regulate lease contracts for uses other than housing, as referred to in Article 3 of Law 29/1994, of 24 November, on Urban Leases, and, in particular, seasonal lease contracts for urban properties for residential use.
Additional provision six. Property managers.
1. For the purposes of this law and the activities it regulates, property managers are natural persons who regularly and paid to provide administration and advisory services to the owners of real estate and to homeowners’ associations.
2. In order to carry out their activity, property managers must have the required professional training and must comply with the legal and regulatory conditions that are required of them.
3. Property managers, in the development of their professional activity, must act with professional efficiency, diligence, responsibility and independence, subject to current legislation and the ethical codes established in the sector, with special consideration towards the protection of consumer rights established by the autonomous communities and in this law.
4. To guarantee the rights of consumers, property managers must take out civil liability insurance, which they may do directly or collectively.
First transitional provision. Housing classified as having a public protection regime prior to the entry into force of the law.
Housing that, upon the entry into force of this law, was definitively classified as having a public protection regime, will be governed by the provisions of said regime, in accordance with the provisions of the applicable legislation and regulations.
Housing that forms part of a public housing stock shall be governed by the provisions of this law and the provisions that regulate it in legislation on housing, urban planning and land use.
Second transitional provision. Objectives in relation to the housing stock intended for social policies.
1. In relation to the establishment of the objectives referred to in article 27, one year after the entry into force of this law without the competent territorial Administrations having established specific time frames and goals, the commitment to achieve, within 20 years, a minimum stock of housing for social policies of 20 percent with respect to the total number of households residing in those municipalities in which areas of stressed residential market have been declared is established as a general reference.
2. In order to ensure compliance with the objectives of increasing the housing stock for social policies referred to in the previous section and to assess the adequate financing of the actions indicated in letter c) of article 27.2, the competent territorial Administrations, in accordance with the provisions of their regulatory regulations, must determine on an annual basis the amounts invested and the degree of progress in achieving the aforementioned objectives.
Third transitional provision. Procedures suspended under Articles 1 and 1 bis of Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of March 31, adopting urgent complementary measures in the social and economic sphere to address COVID-19.
Following the entry into force of this law, and as of June 30, 2023, the eviction procedures and foreclosures indicated in articles 1 and 1 bis of Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of March 31, by which urgent complementary measures are adopted in the social and economic field to deal with COVID-19, which are suspended by application of said precepts, when the plaintiff is a large housing holder in the terms provided for by article 3.k) of this law, will only be resumed at the express request of the same if the plaintiff proves that it has undergone the conciliation or intermediation procedure established for this purpose by the Public Administrations, based on the analysis of the circumstances of both parties and the possible aid and subsidies existing in accordance with the autonomous legislation and regulations on housing.
The above requirement may be accredited in any of the following ways:
1. The responsible declaration issued by the plaintiff that he/she has used the services indicated above, within a maximum period of five months prior to the submission of the application to resume the procedure or lift the suspension, without having been attended to or the corresponding procedures having been initiated within two months from the submission of his/her application, together with supporting documentation of the same.
2. The document accrediting the competent services indicating the result of the conciliation or mediation procedure, which shall state the identity of the parties, the subject of the dispute and whether any of the parties has refused to participate in the procedure, if applicable. This document may not be valid for more than three months.
In the event that the executing party is a public housing entity, the previous requirement may be replaced, where appropriate, by the prior concurrence of the action of the specific intermediation services of the entity itself, which will be accredited in the terms of the previous section.
Fourth transitional provision. Regime of lease contracts entered into prior to the entry into force of this law.
1. Lease contracts subject to Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases, entered into prior to the entry into force of this law, will continue to be governed by the provisions of the legal regime that was applicable to them.
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of the previous section, when the parties agree and it is not contrary to legal provisions, pre-existing contracts may be adapted to the legal regime established in this law.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding sections, the regulations introduced in this law will not affect the different measures of extraordinary application to current housing rental contracts and, in particular, those included in article 46 of Royal Decree-Law 6/2022, of March 29, by which urgent measures are adopted within the framework of the National Plan for response to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine, which will be applicable in the terms in which they are regulated.
Sole repealing provision.
Any provisions of equal or lower rank that oppose the provisions of this law are hereby repealed upon the entry into force of this law.
First final provision. Price containment measures in the regulation of housing rental contracts.
Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases, is modified as follows:
One. Article 10 is worded as follows:
«Article 10. Extension of the contract.
1. If, upon the expiration date of the contract, or any of its extensions, after a minimum of five years of duration of the contract, or seven years if the landlord is a legal entity, neither party has notified the other, at least four months in advance of that date in the case of the landlord and at least two months in advance in the case of the tenant, of its intention not to renew it, the contract shall be compulsorily extended for annual periods up to a maximum of three more years, unless the tenant informs the landlord one month in advance of the termination date of any of the annual periods, of its intention not to renew the contract.
2. In the case of residential leases subject to this law in which the mandatory extension period provided for in article 9.1 or the tacit extension period provided for in article 10.1 expires, an extraordinary extension of the term of the lease may be applied, upon request of the tenant, for a maximum period of one year, during which the terms and conditions established for the current contract will continue to apply. This request for an extraordinary extension will require proof by the tenant of a situation of social and economic vulnerability based on a report or certificate issued in the last year by the municipal or regional social services and must be compulsorily accepted by the landlord when the latter is a large housing owner in accordance with the definition established in Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing, unless a new lease contract has been signed between the parties.
3. In the case of residential lease contracts subject to this law, in which the property is located in an area with a tense residential market and within the period of validity of the declaration of said area in accordance with the terms established in the state legislation on housing, the mandatory extension period provided for in article 9.1 of this law or the tacit extension period provided for in the previous section ends, at the request of the tenant, the lease contract may be extended in an extraordinary manner for annual periods, for a maximum period of three years, during which the terms and conditions established for the current contract will continue to apply. This request for an extraordinary extension must be accepted by the landlord, unless other terms or conditions have been established by agreement between the parties, a new lease agreement has been signed with the rent limitations that may be applicable by application of the provisions of sections 6 and 7 of article 17 of this law, or in the event that the landlord has communicated within the terms and conditions established in article 9.3 of this law, the need to occupy the rented property to use it as a permanent residence for himself or his first-degree relatives by blood or adoption or for his spouse in the event of a final judgment of separation, divorce or annulment of marriage.
4. The legal and conventional regime to which it was subject will continue to apply to the extended contract.
Two. Section 3 of Article 17 is amended and reads as follows:
«3. Payment will be made by electronic means. Exceptionally, when one of the parties does not have a bank account or access to electronic means of payment and at their request, payment may be made in cash and at the rented property.»
Three. Two new sections 6 and 7 are added to article 17, worded as follows:
«6. In residential lease contracts subject to this law in which the property is located in an area of a tense residential market within the period of validity of the declaration of said area in the terms established in Law 12/2023, of May 24, for the right to housing, the rent agreed at the beginning of the new contract may not exceed the last rent of the habitual residential lease contract that had been in force in the last five years in the same home, once the annual rent update clause of the previous contract has been applied, without new conditions being able to be set that establish the impact on the tenant of fees or expenses that were not included in the previous contract.
It may only be increased, beyond what is applicable to the application of the annual rent update clause of the previous contract, by a maximum of 10 percent on the last rent of the habitual residence lease contract that had been in force in the last five years in the same dwelling, when any of the following assumptions are proven:
a) When the property has been subject to rehabilitation work in accordance with the terms set out in section 1 of article 41 of the Personal Income Tax Regulations, which has been completed in the two years prior to the date of the signing of the new lease agreement.
b) When in the two years prior to the date of the signing of the new lease contract, rehabilitation or improvement work on the dwelling has been completed in which a non-renewable primary energy saving of 30 percent has been accredited, through two energy efficiency certificates for the dwelling, one after the work and another prior to it that had been registered no more than two years before the date of the aforementioned work.
c) When in the two years prior to the date of the signing of the new lease agreement, actions to improve accessibility have been completed, duly accredited.
d) When the lease agreement is signed for a period of ten or more years, or a right of extension is established that the tenant may voluntarily exercise, which allows him to optionally extend the contract under the same terms and conditions for a period of ten or more years.
7. Without prejudice to the provisions of the preceding section, in housing lease contracts subject to this law in which the landlord is a large housing holder in accordance with the definition established in Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing, and in which the property is located in an area of a tense residential market within the period of validity of the declaration of the aforementioned area in the terms set forth in the aforementioned Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing, the rent agreed at the beginning of the new contract may not exceed the maximum limit of the applicable price in accordance with the reference price index system, taking into account the conditions and characteristics of the rented home and the building in which it is located, and the methodological bases of said system and the protocols for collaboration and data exchange with the applicable state and regional information systems may be developed by regulation.
This same limitation will apply to housing lease contracts in which the property is located in a stressed residential market area within the period of validity of the declaration of the aforementioned area in the terms established in the aforementioned Law 12/2023, of May 24, for the right to housing, and on which no housing lease contract has been in force in the last five years, provided that this is reflected in the resolution of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, as said application has been justified in the declaration of the stressed residential market area. »
Four. Section 1 of Article 20 is amended and reads as follows:
«1. The parties may agree that the general expenses for the proper maintenance of the property, its services, taxes, charges and responsibilities that are not susceptible to individualization and that correspond to the rented dwelling or its accessories, shall be borne by the tenant.
In buildings under a horizontal property regime, such expenses will be those corresponding to the leased property based on its share of ownership.
In buildings that are not under a horizontal property regime, such expenses will be those assigned to the leased property based on its surface area.
In order to be valid, this agreement must be in writing and determine the annual amount of said expenses at the date of the contract. The agreement that refers to taxes will not affect the Administration.
The property management costs and the contract formalization costs will be borne by the landlord.
Five. An eleventh additional provision is added, worded as follows:
«Additional provision eleven. Reference index for the annual update of housing lease contracts.
The National Statistics Institute will define, before December 31, 2024, a reference index for the annual update of housing lease contracts that will be set as a reference limit for the purposes of article 18 of this law, in order to avoid disproportionate increases in the rent of lease contracts.
Six. A seventh transitional provision is added, worded as follows:
«Seventh transitional provision. Application of measures in stressed areas.
1. The regulation established in section 7 of article 17 shall apply to contracts formalized from the entry into force of Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing, and once the aforementioned system of reference price indexes has been approved, in accordance with the provisions of the first additional provision of Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing and the provisions of the second additional provision of Royal Decree-Law 7/2019, of March 1, on urgent measures in housing and rental matters.
2. The resolution of the ministerial department responsible for housing matters approving the aforementioned system of reference price indexes will be carried out by territorial areas, considering the databases, systems and methodologies developed by the different autonomous communities and ensuring technical coordination in all cases.
Second final provision. Tax incentives applicable in the Personal Income Tax to the leasing of properties intended for residential purposes.
With effect for housing rental contracts entered into after the entry into force of this law, the following amendments are introduced in Law 35/2006, of November 28, on Personal Income Tax and partial amendment of the laws on Corporate Tax, Non-Resident Income Tax and Wealth Tax:
One. Section 2 of Article 23 is amended and worded as follows:
«2. In the case of leasing real estate for residential purposes, the positive net income calculated in accordance with the provisions of the previous section shall be reduced:
a) By 90 percent when the same landlord has signed a new lease agreement for a dwelling located in an area with a tense residential market, in which the initial rent has been reduced by more than 5 percent in relation to the last rent of the previous lease agreement for the same dwelling, once the annual update clause of the previous agreement has been applied, where applicable.
b) In 70 percent when the requirements indicated in letter a) above are not met, and any of the following circumstances occur:
1. That the taxpayer had rented the property for the first time, provided that it is located in an area with a tense residential market and the tenant is between 18 and 35 years old. When there are several tenants of the same property, this reduction will be applied to the part of the net income that proportionally corresponds to the tenants who meet the requirements set out in this letter.
2. When the tenant is a Public Administration or a non-profit entity to which the special regime regulated in Title II of Law 49/2002, of December 23, on the tax regime of non-profit entities and tax incentives for patronage, applies, which allocates the dwelling to social rental with a monthly rent lower than that established in the rental aid program of the state housing plan, or to the accommodation of people in a situation of economic vulnerability referred to in Law 19/2021, of December 20, which establishes the minimum vital income, or when the dwelling is covered by a public housing or qualification program by virtue of which the competent Administration establishes a limitation on the rental income.
c) By 60 percent when, not meeting the requirements of the previous letters, the dwelling has been subject to a rehabilitation action in the terms provided for in section 1 of article 41 of the Tax Regulations that has been completed in the two years prior to the date of the signing of the lease contract.
d) By 50 percent, in any other case.
The requirements indicated must be met at the time of signing the lease agreement, and the reduction will be applicable as long as they continue to be met.
These reductions will only apply to positive net income calculated by the taxpayer in a self-assessment filed before a data verification procedure, limited verification or inspection procedure has been initiated that includes the verification of such income.
In no case will reductions apply to the portion of positive net income derived from income not included or expenses improperly deducted in the taxpayer’s self-assessment and which are regularised in any of the procedures mentioned in the previous paragraph, even when these circumstances have been declared or accepted by the taxpayer during the processing of the procedure. Nor will reductions apply in relation to those rental contracts that do not comply with the provisions of section 6 of article 17 of the Urban Leasing Law.
The stressed residential market areas to which the provisions of this section may apply will be those included in the resolution that, in accordance with the provisions of state legislation on housing, is approved by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.
Two. A thirty-eighth transitional provision is introduced, which is worded as follows:
«Thirty-eighth transitional provision. Reduction applicable to certain residential leases.
The positive net returns on real estate capital derived from housing lease contracts that had been entered into prior to the entry into force of Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing, will be subject to the reduction provided for in section 2 of article 23 of this law in its wording in force as of December 31, 2021.
Third final provision. Modulation of the surcharge on permanently unoccupied residential properties in the Property Tax.
The consolidated text of the Law Regulating Local Finance, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, of March 5, is modified as follows:
Section 4 of Article 72 is worded as follows:
«4. Within the limits resulting from the provisions of the preceding sections, the municipalities may establish, for urban real estate, excluding those for residential use, differentiated rates according to the uses established in the cadastral regulations for the valuation of buildings. When the properties have several uses assigned to them, the rate corresponding to the use of the main building or dependency will be applied.
These rates may only be applied, at most, to 10 percent of the urban real estate in the municipal area that, for each use, has the highest cadastral value, for which purpose the tax ordinance will indicate the corresponding value threshold for each or every one of the uses, from which the increased rates will be applied.
In the case of residential properties that are permanently unoccupied, local councils may require a surcharge of up to 50 percent of the net tax amount.
For these purposes, a property that remains unoccupied, continuously and without justified cause, for a period of more than two years, in accordance with the requirements, means of proof and procedure established by the tax ordinance, and which belongs to the owners of four or more residential properties, will be considered a permanently unoccupied property.
The surcharge may be up to 100 percent of the net tax rate when the period of vacancy is longer than three years, and may be adjusted depending on the period of vacancy.
In addition, local councils may increase the surcharge percentage applicable in accordance with the above by up to an additional 50 percentage points in the case of properties belonging to the owners of two or more unoccupied residential properties in the same municipal area.
In any case, the following causes will be considered justified: temporary transfer for work or training reasons, change of address due to dependency or health reasons or social emergency, properties intended for use as second homes with a maximum of four years of continuous vacancy, properties subject to construction or rehabilitation work, or other circumstances that make effective occupation impossible, that the home is the subject of litigation or a case pending a judicial or administrative resolution that prevents its use and disposal or that the property is the subject of a sale or lease procedure by its owners under market conditions, with a maximum of one year in this situation, or for rent, with a maximum of six months in this situation. In the case of properties owned by a Public Administration, it will also be considered a justified cause if the property is the subject of a sale or lease procedure.
The surcharge, which will be levied on taxpayers of this tax, will be accrued on 31 December and will be settled annually by the town councils, once the vacancy of the property has been confirmed on that date, together with the administrative act by which this is declared.
The municipal declaration of the property as permanently unoccupied will require a prior hearing of the taxpayer and the accreditation by the City Council of the indications of unoccupation, to be regulated in said ordinance, which may include those relating to the data of the municipal register, as well as the consumption of supply services.
Fourth final provision. Amendment to the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Act, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of 30 October.
The consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30, is modified as follows:
Letter b) of section 1 of article 20 is amended and reads as follows:
«b) Allocate adequate and sufficient land for productive and residential uses, reserving in all cases a proportionate portion for housing subject to a public protection regime that, at least, allows for the establishment of its maximum price for sale, rental or other forms of access to housing, such as surface rights or administrative concession.
This reserve will be determined by the legislation on territorial and urban planning or, in accordance with it, by the planning instruments, will guarantee a distribution of its location that respects the principle of social cohesion and will include, as a minimum, the land necessary to realize 40 percent of the residential building capacity provided for by the urban planning on rural land that is to be included in new urban development actions and 20 percent on urbanized land that must undergo urban development reform or renovation actions.
However, said legislation may also exceptionally establish or permit a lower reserve or exempt them for certain Municipalities or actions, provided that, in the case of new urban development actions, the planning instrument guarantees full compliance with the reserve within its territorial scope of application and a distribution of its location that respects the principle of social cohesion.
Fifth final provision. Amendment to Law 1/2000, of 7 January, on Civil Procedure.
Law 1/2000, of January 7, on Civil Procedure, is modified as follows:
One. Section 4 of Article 150 is amended and worded as follows:
«4. When the notification of the resolution contains a date set for the eviction of those occupying a dwelling, it will be forwarded to the Public Administrations competent in matters of housing, social assistance, evaluation and information on situations of social need and immediate attention to persons in a situation or at risk of social exclusion, in case their action is appropriate.»
Two. New sections 6 and 7 are added to article 439, which are worded as follows:
«6. In the cases of numbers 1, 2, 4 and 7 of section 1 of article 250, claims seeking the recovery of possession of a property that do not specify the following shall not be admitted:
a) If the property subject to the same constitutes the habitual residence of the occupant.
b) If the plaintiff is a large homeowner, in accordance with the terms established in article 3.k) of Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing.
In the event that it is indicated that the plaintiff does not have the status of major holder, in order to corroborate this fact, a certificate from the Property Registry in which the list of properties in the name of the plaintiff is recorded must be attached to the claim.
c) In the event that the plaintiff has the status of a large holder, whether or not the defendant is in a situation of economic vulnerability.
To prove whether or not there is economic vulnerability, a supporting document must be provided, valid for no more than three months, issued, with the prior consent of the person occupying the home, by the services of the autonomous and local Administrations competent in matters of housing, social assistance, evaluation and information on situations of social need and immediate attention to people in situations or at risk of social exclusion that have been specifically designated in accordance with the autonomous legislation and regulations on housing.
The requirement set out in this letter c) may also be met by:
1. The responsible declaration issued by the plaintiff stating that he/she has used the services indicated above, within a maximum period of five months prior to filing the claim, without having been attended to or the corresponding procedures having been initiated within two months from the date he/she submitted his/her application, together with supporting documentation of the same.
2. The document accrediting the competent services indicating that the occupant does not expressly consent to the study of his/her economic situation in the terms provided for in the autonomous legislation and regulations on housing. This document may not be valid for more than three months.
7. In the cases of numbers 1, 2, 4 and 7 of section 1 of article 250, in the event that the plaintiff has the status of large holder in the terms provided for in the previous section, the property that is the subject of the claim constitutes the habitual residence of the occupant and said person is in a situation of economic vulnerability as also provided for in the previous section, claims will not be admitted in which it is not proven that the plaintiff has submitted to the conciliation or mediation procedure established for this purpose by the competent Public Administrations, based on the analysis of the circumstances of both parties and the possible existing aid and subsidies in matters of housing in accordance with the provisions of the autonomous legislation and regulations on housing.
The above requirement may be accredited in any of the following ways:
1. The responsible declaration issued by the plaintiff stating that he/she has used the services indicated above, within a maximum period of five months prior to filing the claim, without having been attended to or the corresponding procedures having been initiated within two months from the date he/she submitted his/her application, together with supporting documentation of the same.
2. The document accrediting the competent services indicating the result of the conciliation or mediation procedure, which shall state the identity of the parties, the subject of the dispute and whether any of the parties has refused to participate in the procedure, if applicable. This document may not be valid for more than three months.
In the event that the leasing company is a public housing entity, the previous requirement may be replaced, where appropriate, by the prior concurrence of the action of the specific intermediation services of the entity itself, which will be accredited in the same terms as in the previous section.
Three. A new section 5 is added to article 440, worded as follows:
«5. In all cases of eviction and in all judicial decrees or resolutions that have as their object the scheduling of the eviction, regardless of whether this has been attempted previously, the exact day and time at which it will take place must be included.»
Four. Sections 1a and 5 of article 441 are amended and new sections 6 and 7 are added, which are worded as follows:
«1 bis. In the case of a claim for the recovery of possession of a dwelling or part thereof that is processed in accordance with the provisions of article 250.1.4, notification shall be made to the person who is living there. It may also be made to unknown occupants of the dwelling. For the purposes of identifying the recipient and other occupants, the person who carries out the act of notification may be accompanied by law enforcement agents.
If the plaintiff had requested the immediate delivery of possession of the dwelling, the decree admitting the claim to processing will require its occupants to provide, within five days of notification of the claim, a title justifying their possessory situation.
If sufficient justification is not provided, the court shall order by means of an order the eviction of the occupants and the immediate delivery of possession of the dwelling to the plaintiff, provided that the title that was attached to the claim is sufficient to prove his right to possession and without prejudice to the provisions of sections 5, 6 and 7 of this same article if it has been possible to identify the recipient of the notification or other occupants of the dwelling.
There will be no appeal against the decision on the incident and it will be carried out against any of the occupants who are in the house at that time.
«5. In the cases of numbers 1, 2, 4 and 7 of section 1 of article 250, provided that the property in dispute constitutes the habitual residence of the defendant, the latter shall be informed, in the decree admitting the claim for processing, of the possibility of resorting to the competent regional and local Public Administrations in matters of housing, social assistance, assessment and information on situations of social need and immediate attention to persons in a situation or at risk of social exclusion. The information must include the exact identification data of said Administrations and the way to make contact with them, so that they can assess the possible situation of vulnerability of the defendant.
Without prejudice to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Court shall immediately and ex officio notify the existence of the procedure to the regional and local administrations competent in matters of housing, social assistance, assessment and information on situations of social need and immediate attention to persons in a situation of or at risk of social exclusion, so that they may verify the situation of vulnerability and, if this exists, submit to the Court a proposal for an alternative form of decent social rental housing to be provided by the competent Administration for this purpose and a proposal for immediate attention measures to be adopted equally by the competent Administration, as well as any financial aid and subsidies from which the defendant may benefit.
If these Public Administrations confirm that the affected household is in a situation of economic and, where appropriate, social vulnerability, the judicial body will be notified as soon as possible and in any case within a maximum period of ten days.
In the cases provided for in sections 6 and 7 of article 439, when the plaintiff is a large property owner and has submitted, together with the claim, a document proving the vulnerability of the defendant, this circumstance shall be stated in the letter to the competent public authorities so that they may directly, within the same period, propose the immediate measures to be adopted, as well as the possible financial aid and subsidies that the defendant may benefit from and the reasons, if any, that have prevented their application previously.
Once said communication has been received or the deadline has elapsed, the lawyer of the Administration of Justice will inform the parties so that within a period of five days they may request what is convenient for their rights, proceeding to suspend the date scheduled for the hearing or for the eviction, if such suspension is necessary due to the immediacy of the dates.
«6. Once the parties have submitted their written submissions or the period granted for this has elapsed, the court will decide by order, in light of the information received from the competent Public Administrations and the allegations of the parties, on whether to suspend the proceedings so that the measures proposed by the Public Administrations may be adopted, for a maximum suspension period of two months if the plaintiff is a natural person or four months if it is a legal person.
Once the measures have been adopted by the competent Public Administrations or the maximum suspension period provided for in the previous paragraph has elapsed, the suspension will be automatically lifted and the procedure will continue through all its stages.
«7. The court will make the decision after a balanced and proportional assessment of the specific case, taking into account the situations of vulnerability that may also exist in the plaintiff and any other circumstance proven in the records.
For these purposes, in particular, the court, in order to assess the situation of economic vulnerability, may consider the fact that the amount of the rent, if it is a case of an eviction suit for non-payment, plus the amount of electricity, gas, water and telecommunications supplies, represents more than 30% of the income of the family unit and that the total of said income does not reach:
a) As a general rule, the limit is 3 times the monthly Public Indicator of Multiple Effects Income (hereinafter IPREM).
b) This limit will be increased by 0.3 times the IPREM for each dependent child in the family unit. The applicable increase per dependent child will be 0.35 times the IPREM for each child in the case of a single-parent family unit or in the case of each child with a disability equal to or greater than 33 percent.
c) This limit will be increased by 0.2 times the IPREM for each person over 65 years of age who is a member of the family unit or dependent persons.
d) If any of the members of the family unit has a declared disability of 33 percent or more, a situation of dependency or an illness that permanently incapacitates them from carrying out a work activity, the limit provided for in letter a) will be 5 times the IPREM, without prejudice to the accumulated increases per dependent child.
For these same purposes, the court, in order to assess social vulnerability, may consider the fact that, among those occupying the home, there are dependent persons in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of article 2 of Law 39/2006, of December 14, on the Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Care for Persons in Situations of Dependency, Victims of Violence against Women or Minors.
Five. Sections 3 and 4 of Article 549 are amended and read as follows:
«3. In the judgment of conviction for all types of eviction, or in the decrees that put an end to the aforementioned eviction if there is no opposition to the requirement, the request for its execution in the eviction claim will be sufficient for the direct execution of said resolutions, without the need for any other procedure to proceed with the eviction on the exact day and time indicated in the judgment itself or on the exact day and time that had been set when ordering the requirement to be carried out on the defendant, all in accordance with section 5 of article 440.
4. The legal waiting period referred to in the previous article shall not apply to the execution of eviction rulings due to non-payment of rent or amounts owed, or due to legal or contractual expiration of the period, which shall be governed by the provisions in such cases.
However, when it is a habitual residence, prior to the eviction the terms of sections 5, 6 and 7 of article 441 of this law must have been followed.
Six. A new article 655 bis is introduced, with the following literal:
«Article 655 bis. Auction of real estate.
1. When the property subject to auction is a real estate property that is the habitual residence of the person executed and the creditor is a housing company or a large housing owner in the terms provided for in letter b of section 6 of article 439 and it has not been previously accredited, the plaintiff must prove, before the start of the enforcement procedure, whether the debtor is in a situation of economic vulnerability.
To prove whether or not the executed party is financially vulnerable, a supporting document must be provided, valid for no more than three months, issued, with the party’s prior consent, by the services of the autonomous and local administrations responsible for housing, social assistance, assessment and information on situations of social need and immediate attention to people in situations or at risk of social exclusion that have been specifically designated in accordance with the autonomous legislation and regulations on housing.
This requirement may also be met by:
1. The responsible declaration issued by the plaintiff stating that he/she has used the services indicated above, within a maximum period of five months prior to the submission of the application to initiate enforcement proceedings, without having been attended to or the corresponding procedures having been initiated within two months of submitting his/her application, together with supporting documentation of the same. In such case, the Court will contact the competent Administrations in order to confirm, within a maximum period of ten days, whether the affected household is in a situation of economic and, where appropriate, social vulnerability, as well as the measures envisaged that will be applied immediately so that it has a home.
2. The document accrediting the competent services indicating that the executed party does not expressly consent to the study of his/her economic situation in the terms provided for by the autonomous legislation and regulations on housing. This document may not be valid for more than three months.
2. In the event that it is known that the mortgage debtor is in a situation of economic vulnerability as provided for in the previous sections, the enforcement procedure will not be initiated unless it is proven that the plaintiff has submitted to the conciliation or mediation procedure established for this purpose by the Public Administrations, based on the analysis of the circumstances of both parties and the possible aid and subsidies existing in the field of housing in accordance with the provisions of the autonomous legislation and regulations on housing.
The above requirement may be accredited in any of the following ways:
1. The responsible declaration issued by the plaintiff stating that he/she has used the services indicated above, within a maximum period of five months prior to the submission of the application to initiate enforcement proceedings, without having been attended to or the corresponding procedures having been initiated within two months of submitting his/her application, together with supporting documentation. In such case, immediately upon submission of the application, the Court will contact the competent Administrations in order to confirm, within a maximum period of ten days, whether the affected household is in a situation of economic and, where appropriate, social vulnerability, as well as the measures envisaged that will be applied immediately so that it has a home.
2. The document accrediting the competent services indicating the result of the conciliation or mediation procedure, which shall state the identity of the parties, the subject of the dispute and whether any of the parties has refused to participate in the procedure, if applicable. This document may not be valid for more than three months.
In the event that the executing party is a public housing entity, the previous requirement may be replaced, where appropriate, by the prior concurrence of the action of the specific intermediation services of the entity itself, which will be accredited in the terms of the previous section.
Seven. Article 675 is amended and reads as follows:
«Article 675. Judicial possession and occupants of the property.
1. If the purchaser so requests, he will be given possession of the unoccupied property.
2. If the property is occupied, the Clerk of the Court shall immediately order the eviction when the Court has decided, setting a date and exact time and in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of article 661, that the occupant or occupants do not have the right to remain therein. The evicted occupants may exercise the rights they believe to be theirs in the corresponding trial.
Where the property is occupied and no action has been taken in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of article 661, the purchaser may request the Court of Enforcement to evict those who, taking into account the provisions of article 661, may be considered to be occupants merely in fact or without sufficient title. The request must be made within one year from the acquisition of the property by the successful bidder or successful tenderer, after which the claim for eviction may only be asserted in the corresponding trial.
3. The petition for eviction referred to in the previous section shall be notified to the occupants indicated by the purchaser, with a summons to a hearing to be held by the Clerk of the Court within a period of ten days, at which they may allege and prove what they consider appropriate with respect to their situation. The Court, by means of an order, without further appeal, shall decide on the eviction, which it shall decree in any case if the occupant or occupants summoned do not appear without just cause.
4. The order that resolves on the eviction of the occupants of a property must be notified to the occupants and will set the exact day and time at which this will take place and will leave safe, whatever its content, the rights of the interested parties, which may be exercised in the corresponding trial.
Eight. Section 2 of Article 685 is amended with the following literal:
«2. The claim shall be accompanied by the title or titles of credit, covered by the requirements that this law requires for the issuance of the execution, as well as the other documents referred to in article 550 and, where applicable, articles 573 and 574 of this law.
In the case of execution on mortgaged assets or on assets under a pledge without displacement, if the registered title cannot be presented, it must be accompanied by a certificate from the Registry proving the registration and subsistence of the mortgage.
In cases of enforcement proceedings on mortgaged property, it must be indicated whether the property in question constitutes the habitual residence of the debtor, as well as whether the party seeking enforcement is a major property owner in accordance with the provisions of letter b) of section 6 of article 439.
In the event that it is indicated that the plaintiff does not have the status of major holder, in order to corroborate this fact, a certificate from the Property Registry in which the list of properties in the name of the plaintiff is recorded must be attached to the claim.
Likewise, it must be indicated whether or not the debtor is in a situation of economic vulnerability.
To prove whether or not there is economic vulnerability, a supporting document must be provided, valid for no more than three months, issued, with the prior consent of the mortgage debtor of the home, by the services of the autonomous and local Administrations competent in matters of housing, social assistance, evaluation and information on situations of social need and immediate attention to people in situations or at risk of social exclusion that have been specifically designated in accordance with the autonomous legislation and regulations on housing.
This requirement may also be met by:
1. The responsible declaration issued by the plaintiff stating that he/she has used the services indicated above, within a maximum period of five months prior to filing the claim, without having been attended to or the corresponding procedures having been initiated within two months from the date he/she submitted his/her application, together with supporting documentation of the same.
2. The document accrediting the competent services indicating that the mortgage debtor does not expressly consent to the study of his/her financial situation in the terms provided for by the autonomous legislation and regulations on housing. This document may not be valid for more than three months.
In the event that the mortgage creditor is a large property owner, the property being sued is the habitual residence of the mortgagor and it is known, in accordance with the previous sections, that the latter is in a situation of economic vulnerability, foreclosure claims will not be admitted in which it is not proven that the plaintiff has submitted to the conciliation or mediation procedure established for this purpose by the competent Public Administrations, based on the analysis of the circumstances of both parties and the possible aid and subsidies existing in accordance with the autonomous legislation and regulations on housing.
The above requirement may be accredited in any of the following ways:
1. The responsible declaration issued by the plaintiff stating that he/she has used the services indicated above, within a maximum period of five months prior to filing the claim, without having been attended to or the corresponding procedures having been initiated within two months from the date he/she submitted his/her application, together with supporting documentation of the same.
2. The document accrediting the competent services indicating the result of the conciliation or mediation procedure, which shall state the identity of the parties, the subject of the dispute and whether any of the parties has refused to participate in the procedure, if applicable. This document may not be valid for more than three months.
In the event that the mortgage creditor is a public housing entity, the previous requirement may be replaced, where appropriate, by the prior concurrence of the action of the specific intermediation services of the entity itself, which will be accredited in the terms of the previous section.
Nine. Section 1 of Article 704 is amended and reads as follows:
«1. When the property whose possession is to be handed over is the habitual residence of the person executed or of those who depend on him, the Clerk of the Court will give them a period of one month to vacate it. If there is a valid reason, this period may be extended by one more month.
Once the specified periods have elapsed, the eviction will be carried out immediately, setting the exact day and time of the eviction both in the initial resolution and in the one that agrees to the extension or in any subsequent resolution that agrees to the eviction, even if it has been attempted previously.
Ten. A new seventh additional provision is incorporated, which is worded as follows:
«Seventh additional provision.
In criminal proceedings for the crime of usurpation under section 2 of article 245 of the Criminal Code, if the precautionary measure of eviction and return of the property that is the subject of the crime to its rightful owner is carried out and provided that among those occupying the home there are dependent persons in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of article 2 of Law 39/2006, of December 14, on the Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Care for People in Situations of Dependency, Victims of Violence Against Women or Minors, the information will be transferred to the Regional and local Administrations competent in matters of housing, social assistance, assessment and information on situations of social need and immediate attention to people in a situation or at risk of social exclusion, so that they can adopt the corresponding protection measures.
The same provisions will be adopted when the eviction of the dwelling is agreed in a sentence.
Sixth final provision. Extraordinary limitation on the annual update of the rent for residential lease contracts.
Royal Decree-Law 6/2022, of March 29, adopting urgent measures within the framework of the National Plan for response to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine, is amended as follows:
Article 46 is worded as follows:
«Article 46. Extraordinary limitation on the annual update of the rent of housing lease contracts.
1. The tenant of a housing rental contract subject to Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases, whose rent must be updated because the corresponding annual validity period is fulfilled within the period between the entry into force of this Royal Decree-Law and December 31, 2023, may negotiate with the landlord the increase that will be applied in that annual rent update, subject to the following conditions:
a) In the event that the landlord is a large holder in the terms established in article 3.k) of Law 12/2023, of May 24, for the right to housing, the increase in rent will be that resulting from the new agreement between the parties, without being able to exceed the result of applying the annual variation of the Competitiveness Guarantee Index as of the date of said update, taking as a reference month for the update the one corresponding to the last index that was published on the date of the contract update. In the absence of this new agreement between the parties, the increase in rent will be subject to this same limitation.
b) In the event that the landlord is not a large holder, the increase in rent will be the result of the new agreement between the parties. In the absence of this new agreement between the parties, the increase in rent may not exceed the result of applying the annual variation of the Competitiveness Guarantee Index as of the date of said update, taking as the reference month for the update the one corresponding to the last index that was published on the date of the update of the contract.
2. The tenant of a housing rental contract subject to Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases, whose rent must be updated because the corresponding annual validity period expires within the period between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024, may negotiate with the landlord the increase to be applied in that annual rent update, subject to the following conditions:
a) In the event that the landlord is a large holder in the terms established in article 3.k) of Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing, the increase in rent will be that resulting from the new agreement between the parties, without the annual variation in rent being able to exceed three percent. In the absence of this new agreement between the parties, the increase in rent will be subject to this same limitation.
b) In the event that the landlord is not a large holder, the increase in rent will be that resulting from the new agreement between the parties. In the absence of this new agreement between the parties, the increase in rent to be applied may not exceed three percent.
Final provision seven. Competent titles.
1. This law is enacted under Article 149.1.1.ª and 13.ª of the Constitution, which grants the State the power to regulate the basic conditions that guarantee the equality of all Spaniards in the exercise of their rights and in the fulfilment of their constitutional duties and the bases and coordination of the general planning of economic activity, respectively.
2. The following articles are excepted from the provisions of the previous section:
a) Articles 10, 11, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and the first final provision, which are protected by the jurisdiction that Article 149.1.8.ª of the Spanish Constitution attributes to the State in matters of civil legislation.
b) Article 5 and the fifth final provision, which are based on the jurisdiction that Article 149.1.6.ª of the Spanish Constitution attributes to the State in matters of procedural legislation.
c) The second and third final provisions, which are incorporated into article 149.1.14.ª of the Constitution, which grants the State exclusive jurisdiction over general finances.
3. The content of articles 22, 23, 24, 26 and the second additional provision will only apply to the General State Administration.
4. The provisions of this law shall apply without prejudice to:
a) The provisions of the civil, regional or special regimes in the area reserved for them by article 149.1.8.ª of the Constitution, where they exist, as well as the regional tax regimes of economic agreement and convention in force, respectively, in the Historical Territories of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country and in the Foral Community of Navarre.
b) The exercise of the exclusive competence assumed by the autonomous communities by virtue of article 148.1.3.ª of the Constitution in matters of territorial planning, urban development and housing.
Eighth final provision. Regulatory development.
The Government is hereby authorized to proceed, within the framework of its powers, to the development of this law.
Final provision nine. Entry into force.
This law shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the “Official State Gazette”, except for the second final provision, which shall enter into force on January 1 of the year following its publication in the “Official State Gazette”.
Therefore,
I command all Spaniards, individuals and authorities, to observe and enforce this law.
Madrid, May 24, 2023.
FELIPE R.
The President of the Government,
Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon