Spain's 2026 housing decree: what the Government approved (evictions, lease renewal) and what changes if you rent

The Council of Ministers approved two housing royal decree-laws this Tuesday. This is how Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez presented them at the official press conference. The final text has not been published yet: the minister herself explained that the text "has been very open" until the last moment and that the entry-into-force dates were still being adjusted.

What the Government has approved

1. Royal decree-law to protect the social function of housing and expand the affordable supply

The minister grouped it into four blocks:

• Evictions: the so-called social shield is extended until December 31, 2030, and the protection mechanisms of public administrations are strengthened.
• Speculative purchases: companies that buy housing to speculate (the so-called vulture funds) will be identified in order to bar them from continuing to buy and halt those purchases, and the taxation of SOCIMIs (Spanish REITs) is reorganized to steer them toward affordable housing.
• Rental fraud: the decree regulates seasonal (temporary) rentals and room rentals, which according to the minister are used to get around the protection of primary-residence leases, and applies "a 10% VAT" to tourist apartments. On room rentals, the minister explained that the text includes a jurisdiction clause: in Catalonia, because of its own civil law, this rule would not apply, but the Catalan one would.
• Rent prices: during the Q&A, the minister added that rent prices will be "frozen […] at 2%". Asked until when, she said she had to check the latest version of the text.
• Lower financial burden: graduated tax breaks for incomes of up to €33,000, which according to the Tax Agency estimates cited by the minister will reach about 1,600,000 households; a zero-interest loan to buy a first home (the "Tu Casa" mechanism); and a super-reduced 4% VAT for publicly developed housing and subsidized (protected) housing.

2. Royal decree-law on urgent measures to strengthen the stability of primary-residence lease contracts

It introduces the automatic renewal of rental contracts, "with safeguards for different circumstances," according to the minister, who gave as an example the landlord's need to occupy the home for themselves or a family member. As she explained, rather than a temporary extension it is a change of model, with renewals every five years when the landlord is an individual and every seven when it is a company. The minister acknowledged that this second text has been worked on less with the parliamentary groups.

What it means for you if you rent in Spain

• Nothing changes yet today. Your contract stays as it is until the decrees are published in the BOE and enter into force. Until then the exact requirements and deadlines are not known: which contracts the renewal covers, from when, or how long the rent freeze lasts. The minister said the text would be delivered "in a few hours."
• Your nationality doesn't matter. The Urban Leases Act (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos) makes no distinction between Spanish and foreign tenants, and what has been announced changes the rules for residential leases, not immigration law.
• If you rent a room or a seasonal apartment, which is the most common situation when you first arrive in Spain, pay attention: those are exactly the two types the decree will regulate.
• Don't sign waivers or switch contracts in a hurry. Wait for the official text and keep your contract and payment receipts up to date.

What the rental law already says today

While the decrees are not in the BOE, and also if Congress does not validate them, your primary-residence lease is governed by the Urban Leases Act. This is what it says today:

• Minimum term: even if you sign for less, the contract is renewed every year until it reaches five years, or seven if the landlord is a company (legal entity). You can choose not to renew by giving thirty days' notice (art. 9.1).
• Tacit extension: once that minimum is reached, if nobody gives notice (the landlord four months in advance, you two months), the contract continues year by year for up to three more years (art. 10.1).
• Extraordinary extension for vulnerability: when those terms end, you can request one more year with a report from your municipal or regional social services issued within the last year. If the landlord is a large holder, they must accept it, unless you have signed a new contract (art. 10.2).
• In a stressed-market area: when those terms end, you can request annual extensions of up to three years on the same conditions, and the landlord must accept them unless you agree otherwise, sign a new contract, or the landlord gave timely notice that they need the home for themselves or their family (art. 10.3).
• Deposit: one month's rent for housing (art. 36.1). In addition, in contracts of up to five years (seven if the landlord is a company), any additional guarantee cannot exceed two months' rent (art. 36.5).

Heads up: the stressed-area extension and the vulnerability extension must be requested; they don't apply on their own.

Do you live in a stressed-market area?

Each autonomous community declares them and the Ministry of Housing publishes them in the BOE every quarter. According to its note of July 29, 2026, there are 317 municipalities in five communities: Catalonia, the Basque Country, Navarre, Galicia and Asturias. They include Barcelona, Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, San Sebastián, Pamplona, A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela; in Asturias, only some neighborhoods and towns (for example, La Arena and Cimadevilla in Gijón). Each declaration lasts three years. Check your municipality and how long it applies in the Ministry's official search tool (in Spanish).

What happens now

1. BOE: the decrees enter into force when they are published, on the date their text sets.
2. Congress: within the following thirty days it votes on whether to validate or repeal them (art. 86.2 of the Constitution). The minister announced that the Government expects an extraordinary plenary session next Friday to validate them.
3. The precedent: Royal Decree-law 8/2026 of March 20, on rental measures, did not pass that step: Congress agreed to repeal it (Resolution of April 28, 2026).

We will update this page when the BOE text is out and after the Congress vote.

Sources

• La Moncloa: press conference after the Council of Ministers of September 29, 2026 (official video, in Spanish).
• Law 29/1994 on Urban Leases, arts. 9, 10 and 36 (consolidated text).
• Spanish Constitution, art. 86.
• Resolution of April 28, 2026, of the Congress of Deputies (repeal of RDL 8/2026).
• Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda: note of July 29, 2026, and stressed-area search tool.