What’s different about Spain’s new housing laws compared to the rejected ones?

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Tuesday announced two new housing decrees which seek to help solve Spain’s housing crisis, after the Spanish Congress rejected similar bills last week.

There have been several amendments made to the measures, but more importantly the voting situation has changed now too because Sánchez has called a snap election for November 29th.

Now that Parliament has been dissolved, it will be Congress’ Standing Committee (Diputación Permanente) that will approve or reject the bills again.

The committee is the body established within the Spanish parliament to carry out its functions whilst not in session.

The decrees were published in Spain’s State Bulletin (BOE) on Wednesday October 7th, which means that they are currently in effect, pending their ratification by the Standing Committee over the next 30 days.

READ ALSO: Spain’s PM confirms plans to reintroduce rejected housing laws

Sánchez is hoping they will be ratified this time round, particularly given the decrees’ new content and that Junts, which proved decisive when voting against the initial decrees in Parliament, holds fewer seats in the Standing Committee.

So what’s different about these new decrees when compared to the ones rejected by right-wing parties last Friday?

Limits on vulture funds until 2030, not 2028

The crackdown on property speculation by vulture funds has now been toughened. The previous text limited home purchases below 70 percent of their value until 2028, but this version now extends the temporary ban until December 31st, 2030. It also states that market value will be determined through independent appraisals approved by the Bank of Spain and requires that the price limitations of public housing programmes be permanently listed in the Property Registry.

Changes to financing amounts for social housing programmes

The previous decrees already had a measure to facilitate first-time home purchases. It provided state loans (ICO) to supplement private mortgage financing.

The changes now specify that those acquiring their first primary residence, regardless of age, will be eligible. The main difference lies in the fact that the new decree increases the budget for this up to €10 billion, as well as €5 million for financial expenses. In addition to this, the Social Impact Housing Fund, designed to attract construction investment, has now been allocated €400 million.

Legal fee payment for small landlords

The housing decree also includes greater clarification for cases of eviction for non-payment. The first decree stated that compensation for vulnerable landlords or small property owners would cover “the contractual rent not received” and “unpaid utility costs”, while the second version also adds “legal costs in favour of the plaintiff”.

This means that the State will now also pay the landlord’s legal fees and court costs from the eviction proceedings.

A clamp-down on real estate fraud

One completely new article in the decree focuses on the regulation of real estate advertising. From now on, all rental advertisements will be required to display the reference price index, the rent from the previous contract, and whether the landlord owns multiple properties or not.

Tourist accommodation will also be required to include their municipal or regional identification code in their online platform listings to combat fraud related to seasonal rentals.

Compensation for tenants

No significant changes have been made to the measures on compensation for tenants, but it does include great legal certainty.

After the minimum five-year contract term – or seven years if the landlord is a legal entity – if neither party expresses their intention to terminate it, the lease will be automatically extended for successive periods of five or seven years, respectively.

The initial draft included compensation of 12 months’ rent for not renewing a contract without good reason, while, the final law stipulates that the landlord will have to pay the higher of two options – either 12 months’ rent or one month’s rent for each year the tenant has resided in the property.

Exception for not compensating tenants disappears

In the previous decree there were six exceptions in the above case where the landlord wouldn’t need to compensate the tenant, but now the last exception – when the landlord is in a proven vulnerable situation – has been deleted from the new text.

Another change is that the text on these exceptions previously stated that landlords did not have to renew the contract if they needed it for family members up to the second degree, this has now been changed to first-degree family members, as well as spouses.

Rental extensions for those who don’t default on rent

The two-year protection period for expiring leases will remain, but now it will only benefit tenants who have a good payment history and haven’t defaulted on rent.

The decree includes the legal right to extend current leases for up to two additional years and maintains exceptions when the parties agree to other conditions, such as signing a new contract, or when the owner has a proven need to recover the property. 

The second decree won’t come into effect immediately

Royal Decree-Law 27/2026 stated that it would come into force the day after its publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE). The new Royal Decree-Law 28/2026, however, will not come into force until November 15th, despite having been published on October 7th.

The second Royal Decree- Law 29/2026 regarding contract extensions will come into force on October 8th.