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Spain's 2026 housing decree: what applies now and if it falls

The housing decrees of 6 October 2026 (Royal Decree-laws 28 and 29/2026) are in the BOE and apply from different dates, and Congress has to validate or repeal them. This page says, point by point and with its source, what applies today and what changes with each result of the vote.

Checked on 2 November 2026 against the BOE and congreso.es.

Status of the decree

Royal Decree-law 29/2026 has applied since 8 October 2026 and awaits validation (convalidación) by the Standing Committee of Congress (checked on congreso.es on 2 November 2026). If it is repealed, its measures stop applying: the update goes back to what your contract says, within the IRAV limit, and there is no extraordinary extension.

The vote and each party's position →

What the vote decides

Each decree is voted on separately, so one can pass and the other fall. congreso.es has not yet called the session that votes on them. The press gives 12 November 2026 as the expected date (Europa Press, 16 October 2026); congreso.es has not confirmed it yet. Source ↗

RDL 29/2026: rent cap, extension, TU CASA and VAT

In force since 8 October 2026.

If it is validated

If it is repealed

  • It stops applying on the day the BOE publishes the repeal. For RDL 26 and 27/2026 the BOE published it on the day of the vote, 2 October 2026.Source: BOE-A-2026-20526 ↗
  • Rent update: the 2% cap goes. Your contract applies, within the IRAV limit the INE publishes every month.Source: LAU, artículo 18 y disposición adicional undécima ↗
  • Extraordinary extension of up to two years: it can no longer be requested. For one already requested, no rule says what happens; keep the letter and proof that the landlord received it. When Congress repealed RDL 8/2026 in April, the next decree declared the requests made under it valid.Source: RDL 29/2026, disposición transitoria primera ↗
  • VAT: if it falls before 1 December, the wider 4% never starts. 4% stays only for the special regime and public developments; other new protected homes pay 10%.Source: Ley 37/1992 del IVA, artículo 91.Dos.1.6.º ↗
  • The TU CASA loan disappears without ever having been available.

RDL 28/2026: lease renewal

Published in the BOE; it enters into force on 15 November 2026.

If it is validated

  • From 15 November, a main-home lease that has already run five years (seven if the landlord is a company) renews for another five (or seven) if nobody gives notice. The landlord must give six months' notice; the tenant, two.Source: RDL 28/2026, artículo único (LAU, artículo 10.1) ↗
  • If the landlord does not renew, they pay you, when you hand over the home, the greater of 12 months' rent and one month for each year you lived there. They do not pay if they need the home for themselves or their family, if you sign a new contract, or in the other cases the law lists.Source: RDL 28/2026 (LAU, artículo 10.1 y 10.2) ↗
  • For existing contracts, the new rule applies to expiry dates after 15 November.Source: RDL 28/2026, disposición transitoria única ↗

If it is repealed

  • If it is repealed before 15 November, it never enters into force and today's rule stays.Source: RDL 28/2026, disposición final segunda ↗
  • Today's rule: after the five years (seven if the landlord is a company), if nobody gives notice, the lease extends year by year for up to three more years. The landlord gives four months' notice; the tenant, two.Source: LAU, artículo 10.1 ↗
  • There is no compensation for not renewing.

It has happened before. In January 2019 Congress repealed Royal Decree-law 21/2018 on renting, and the BOE returned article 10 of the Act to its earlier text. On 2 October 2026 it repealed Royal Decree-laws 26 and 27/2026, the ones before these. Source: BOE-A-2019-799 ↗

Measure by measure

  1. Since 8 October 2026

    In force unless repealed

    Royal Decree-law 29/2026 is in force (eleventh final provision): the day after its publication in BOE no. 249 of 7 October, except the measures with their own date.

    Source: BOE-A-2026-20823 ↗

  2. Updates up to 31 December 2027

    In force unless repealed

    Cap on the annual rent update (sixth final provision): nothing if the rent is above the ceiling of the reference index; otherwise the new agreement or, without one, at most 2%.

    Source: BOE-A-2026-20823, Disposición final sexta ↗Calculate my maximum rise →

  3. Contracts ending before 31 December 2028

    In force unless repealed

    Extraordinary extension in yearly periods, up to two, at the request of a paid-up tenant (fifth final provision). The landlord must accept it except for an agreement, a new contract, an accredited need or a renewal at least 5% cheaper.

    Source: BOE-A-2026-20823, Disposición final quinta ↗Check whether I can ask for it →

  4. No date

    No date

    TU CASA loan (article 19): created, at 0% with no fees, for the lesser of 20% of the home's value and 50,000 euros. It cannot be requested until a Council of Ministers agreement sets who may and within what limits (paragraph 5) and the agreement with the ICO is signed (paragraph 12). On 11 October, ico.es had no page.

    Source: BOE-A-2026-20823, Artículo 19 ↗What can be requested today: the ICO guarantee →

  5. 15 November 2026

    Starts on 15 November 2026 unless repealed first

    Royal Decree-law 28/2026: leases renew for five years (seven if the landlord is a company) if nobody gives notice, with six months' notice from the landlord and two from the tenant, and a landlord who does not renew compensates the tenant, with exceptions (second final provision). It is a separate decree, with its own vote.

    Source: BOE-A-2026-20822 ↗What changes at renewal →

  6. 1 December 2026

    Starts on 1 December 2026 unless repealed first

    4% VAT (IVA) for protected homes with a permanent or indefinite qualification sold by their promoter (article 7, paragraph Four). Until then, 4% only for the special regime and public promotion; the rest, 10%.

    Source: BOE-A-2026-20823, Artículo 7, apartado Cuatro ↗VAT and transfer tax on protected homes →

4% VAT: who pays it

What decides the 4% is the home's qualification, not the fact that it is protected. The short answers:

Does every new protected home pay 4% from 1 December?

No. The home's qualification decides, not the fact that it is protected. 4% applies to special-regime or public developments and, from 1 December 2026, to homes with a permanent or indefinite qualification sold by their promoter. If the protection lasts for a set period, it stays at 10%. The tax authority applies it that way: in April 2026 it ruled that a price-limited protected home pays 10%, because the qualification is what counts.

Source: RDL 29/2026, artículo 7, apartado Cuatro ↗Source: AEAT, novedades de IVA 2026 (27-10-2026) ↗Source: DGT, consulta V0774-26 ↗

How do I know whether my home's qualification is permanent?

Its qualification certificate or resolution, provisional or final, says so: the regime and how long the protection lasts. Ask the promoter for it before signing; the purchase deed cites it. In the Basque Country the law gives every public protected home a permanent qualification. The decree does not define "permanent or indefinite", and the tax authority has not yet published a ruling on the new wording.

Source: Ley vasca 3/2015, artículo 29.1 ↗

And if I buy a second-hand protected home?

It pays no VAT but ITP, your region's transfer tax. The 4% is only for the first sale, by the promoter.

And if the decree is repealed?

If Congress repeals RDL 29/2026 before 1 December, the wider 4% never applies: it stays only for the special regime and public developments, and other new protected homes pay 10%.

VAT and transfer tax on protected homes, with the tax rulings →

The validation vote

With the Cortes dissolved, the Standing Committee of Congress (Diputación Permanente) votes. The session of 16 October 2026 validated Royal Decree-laws 24 and 25/2026, the only ones on its order of the day; the housing decrees were not on it. congreso.es has called another session, on 3 November 2026, with a single item, an appearance by the Government; the housing decrees are not on it either, so their vote still has no date (checked on 2 November 2026). The deadline is 30 days from the promulgation of 6 October, and the Rules of Congress (Reglamento del Congreso) count their deadlines in working days (articles 90.1 and 151.1), so it falls around mid-November; congreso.es does not publish the exact day.

congreso.es ↗Source: Real Decreto-ley 24/2026, Real Decreto-ley 25/2026 (PDF) ↗The vote and each party's position →

On forums such as Forocoches this text is called the "decreto Maricarmen": it is Royal Decree-law 29/2026, the same one this page explains.

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