Spain’s housing decrees 28/2026 and 29/2026: what is in force since 8 October and what changes on 15 November

by | Oct 9, 2026 | Housing law, Legal advice, Urban Leases | 0 comments

Brick residential building facade with balconies in Madrid

In nine days the Official State Gazette (BOE) has published four housing decree-laws and two repeal resolutions. Royal Decree-Law 26/2026 was in force for a single day. This article sets out the timeline, explains which rules apply today, what has changed compared with the repealed texts, and what happens now with parliamentary ratification while Parliament is dissolved.

1. Timeline: 30 September to 7 October

This is not the first time this year. Congress had already repealed Royal Decree-Law 8/2026 on the extraordinary rental extension, as we reported in “Rental extension repealed”. The preamble of RDL 28/2026 itself recalls that approving a new decree-law after the repeal of another with coinciding content has precedents, among them Royal Decree-Laws 21/2018 and 7/2019 on rentals.

2. What is in force today

2.1. Royal Decree-Law 29/2026: in force since 8 October

Under its eleventh final provision it entered into force on the day after publication, 8 October 2026, with the same exceptions that RDL 26/2026 already contained: the 10 % VAT on stays of up to thirty nights and the new municipal capital gains (plusvalía) table apply from 1 December 2026; the phased imputation of real estate income applies from 1 January 2027; and the “Financia Europa” savings and investment account cannot be marketed until the ministerial orders are issued.

The bulk of the content is that of the repealed decree: suspension of evictions of vulnerable persons until 31 December 2030, extraordinary cure of non-payment evictions by the public administration, reform of the Urban Leases Act (LAU) on seasonal and room rentals, the IRAV cap on rent updates, an extraordinary extension of up to two years for contracts ending before 31 December 2028 (fifth final provision), a 2 % cap on updates until 31 December 2027 (sixth final provision), personal income tax reductions for landlords, a 10 % deduction for tenants, IBI surcharges, a 25 % levy on SOCIMIs, CASA 47, guarantees and the TU CASA mechanism. All of this is explained point by point in our guide to Royal Decree-Law 26/2026, and remains valid for RDL 29/2026 except for the changes set out in section 3.

2.2. Royal Decree-Law 28/2026: in force on 15 November

Unlike RDL 27/2026, which was to enter into force the day after publication, RDL 28/2026 sets its entry into force for 15 November 2026 (second final provision). Until that date, Article 10 of the Urban Leases Act is the version drafted by Article 3.Eight of RDL 29/2026, which keeps the annual tacit extension of up to three years and brings into paragraphs 2 and 3 the extraordinary extensions for vulnerability (one year) and in stressed market areas (up to three years) that already existed under Act 12/2023.

However, the transitional regime of RDL 28/2026 takes the date of publication (7 October) as its reference, not the date of entry into force: non-renewal notices validly served before 7 October keep their effect and give rise to no compensation; notices served from that date onwards are already subject to the new regime once it enters into force. In other words, a landlord who today serves notice of non-renewal of a contract expiring in 2027 will, when it expires, be under the new Article 10.

3. What changes in RDL 29/2026 compared with RDL 26/2026

We compared the operative provisions of both texts. Most differences are drafting changes. The substantive ones are these.

3.1. Purchases below 70 % of value (Article 1)

  • The time limit moves from 31 December 2028 to 31 December 2030.
  • The persons covered change: no longer “any entity whose corporate purpose includes acquiring real estate”, but entities dedicated to acquiring property or portfolios of non-performing mortgage loans at a price clearly below their appraised value, and legal persons that qualify as large holders (more than ten urban residential properties or more than 1,500 m² built), together with their group companies or entities acting on their behalf.
  • The benchmark is the market value determined by an appraisal company approved by and registered with the Bank of Spain, independent of the parties, in a report the buyer must provide. “Total effective consideration” is defined to include assumed debts, ancillary services and economic advantages.
  • The affordable or social housing exception is no longer “for five years” but “until at least 31 December 2030”. The Code of Good Practice exception requires proof of adherence to and compliance with the Code approved by the Council of Ministers, and the exception for acquisitions in enforcement proceedings is conditional on that same adherence.
  • New paragraph 5: where, under those exceptions, one of these entities acquires for less than 70 % the habitual home of a vulnerable person with no housing alternative, any eviction from that home is suspended until 31 December 2030. And the Code and enforcement exceptions cannot be invoked until the Code has been approved and is in force.

3.2. Evictions: costs and interest (Articles 2.2 and 5.Two)

The compensation the administration must assume in favour of the claimant under the Article 2.2 suspension now includes, in addition to unpaid rent and utilities, court costs. In the extraordinary cure under the new Article 22.6 of the Civil Procedure Act, the administration’s payment or deposit also covers costs, and late payment accrues interest. The extraordinary cure is confined to non-payment evictions under Article 250.1.1.

3.3. Social Impact Housing Fund and TU CASA (Articles 13 and 19)

The Social Impact Housing Fund receives an initial endowment of EUR 400 million through an extraordinary budget credit. The TU CASA mechanism, which provides loans complementing the mortgage on a first home, is opened to buyers “regardless of age”, is funded with an extraordinary credit of EUR 10 billion, is managed by the ICO as collaborating entity of the Ministry under a steering committee, and the financed homes must be used as the buyer’s habitual residence; if they are rented out, the rent may not exceed the reference index.

3.4. New Article 20: transparency in rental advertisements

This is the only measure that was not in RDL 26/2026. Every offer or advertisement for a residential lease must state the rental price reference index if the property is in a stressed market area, the applicable legal rent cap where one exists, the identifier of the rented unit where applicable, and whether the landlord is a large holder. It applies to private individuals, agencies and portals. Title VI (the Financia Europa account) is renumbered from Article 21 onwards.

4. What changes in RDL 28/2026 compared with RDL 27/2026

The scheme is the same: a complete new wording of Article 10 of the Urban Leases Act, with tacit and mandatory extensions for successive five-year periods (seven if the landlord is a legal person), a landlord’s notice period of six months (the tenant’s remains two) and compensation to the tenant if the landlord decides not to extend. The differences:

  • Calculation of the compensation. RDL 27/2026 referred to “at least twelve months’ rent of a dwelling of similar characteristics”. RDL 28/2026 sets it at the higher of two amounts: twelve months calculated at the upper value of the range applicable to the dwelling in the State rental price reference system, or one month per year of residence calculated at the same value. If there is no individualised value, the rent in force on the date of the notice is used.
  • Extraordinary extension and compensation. If the tenant is entitled to a statutory extension the landlord must accept and does not request it, no compensation is due. If the tenant requests it and it applies, the compensation is deferred to the end of the extension, becoming payable then unless an exclusion applies. RDL 27/2026 excluded compensation “even if the tenant had not requested it”.
  • Exclusions (Article 10.2). Ground f) of RDL 27/2026 (prevalence of the interests of a vulnerable landlord) disappears. The need for the dwelling for relatives now extends “up to” the second degree. The remaining grounds stay: the tenant has not actually lived in the dwelling for more than six months in the last year, the tenant has another suitable dwelling in the same municipality, a new contract is signed, or the tenant rejects a formal offer of a new contract of at least five or seven years with rent set under Article 17.6 LAU, even if the property is not in a stressed area.
  • Transitional rules. Non-extension notices served before publication (7 October) keep their effect without compensation, even if an extraordinary extension later applies. For contracts expiring within six months of entry into force, the landlord may still give four months’ notice. Contracts in the annual tacit extension period remain in it until it ends, and then move to the new Article 10. Contracts under tacit renewal (tácita reconducción) of the Civil Code become subject to Article 10 from the first expiry after entry into force, counting the time elapsed since the original contract (RDL 27/2026 allowed a four-month margin).
  • Coordination with the two-year extension. The extraordinary extension under the fifth final provision of RDL 29/2026 does not apply where the extension under the new Article 10.1 applies. Where it applies to a contract already served with notice, the contract ends when the extension ends and, absent an Article 10.2 ground, compensation becomes due.
  • Entry into force: 15 November 2026, instead of the day after publication.

On the duration of contracts before this reform, see the duration of rental contracts signed after 6 March 2019 and how to update a rental fee.

5. Ratification with Parliament dissolved

Both decrees must be debated and voted on within thirty days of their promulgation (Article 86.2 of the Constitution). With the Chambers dissolved by Royal Decree 806/2026, that power lies with the Standing Committee (Diputación Permanente) of the Congress, under Article 78.2 of the Constitution. The preamble of RDL 28/2026 expressly assumes this: the existence of extraordinary and urgent need empowers the Government to approve decree-laws even once the Chambers have been dissolved and elections called.

The practical consequence is that uncertainty continues: as happened with RDL 26/2026 and RDL 8/2026, repeal is possible and, if it happens, the measures lapse from publication of the resolution, with no retroactive effect on what has already been applied. In the meantime, the rules are in force and must be complied with.

6. Practical cases

Landlord who had already served notice. An owner sent a registered letter on 20 September stating that a contract expiring in February 2027 would not be renewed. The notice predates 7 October: it keeps its effect and generates no compensation, even if the tenant later requests the two-year extraordinary extension under the fifth final provision of RDL 29/2026.

Landlord who serves notice now. If the same letter is sent on 20 October for a contract expiring in May 2027, the expiry falls after 15 November and the new Article 10 applies: notice must be given six months in advance (four, if the expiry falls before 15 May 2027, under the transitional provision), and unless an Article 10.2 ground applies, the tenant will be entitled to compensation.

Fund buying an occupied home below appraisal. Since 8 October, a legal person that is a large holder cannot acquire a dwelling for less than 70 % of its appraised market value, save for the exceptions in Article 1.2. The Code of Good Practice exception cannot be invoked until the Council of Ministers approves the Code.

Listing on a portal. Since 8 October, a flat in a stressed area advertised without the reference index or the rent cap breaches Article 20 of RDL 29/2026. Active listings should be reviewed.

7. Summary: the key points

  • RDL 26/2026 and 27/2026 were repealed by Congress on 2 October. RDL 26/2026 was in force only on 1 October.
  • RDL 29/2026 has been in force since 8 October and reproduces RDL 26/2026 with changes: purchase limit until 2030 focused on funds and large holders, a prior Code of Good Practice, costs and interest in the cure procedure, EUR 400 million for the Social Impact Fund, EUR 10 billion for TU CASA and a new transparency duty in advertisements.
  • RDL 28/2026 enters into force on 15 November: five- or seven-year extensions, six months’ notice and compensation to the tenant for non-renewal, calculated at the upper value of the reference index. Notices served before 7 October are preserved.
  • Ratification lies with the Standing Committee of the Congress, within thirty days.

Do you need advice on your lease?

At Quikprokuo we are lawyers specialising in property rentals in Madrid. We review notices, extensions and compensation in the light of the new rules, for landlords and tenants alike. Contact us.