Rules to renovate buildings and regenerate neighborhoods in Spain

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law seeks sustainable and efficient urban development by promoting building rehabilitation and the regeneration and renewal of existing urban areas, to ensure quality of life and decent housing.
2. It creates the Building Evaluation Report: owners of collective residential buildings can be required to certify the building's state of repair, universal accessibility and energy efficiency. The report is required at least every ten years, and failing to produce it is an urban planning offense.
3. The report can be signed by a qualified technician or a registered inspection entity, and technicians may seek advice from disability organizations on accessibility matters.
4. It defines who must pay for rehabilitation, regeneration and renewal works: owners and holders of usage rights, homeowners' associations and cooperatives for common elements, and public administrations for urbanization or when they fund the operation.
5. It guarantees rights for people living in affected properties: rehousing rights when a habitual residence is vacated and, in standalone actions, the right to temporary housing and to return to an adequately sized home in the same area.
6. It expands the powers of homeowners' associations, cooperatives and owners to take part in these actions: they can act with full legal capacity, including for credit, form administrative associations, create conservation funds and receive public aid.
7. It allows funding agreements between administrations, owners and other participants, using formulas such as deferred payment of costs, land swaps, or leasing of premises and apartments in exchange for covering expenses and taxes.
8. It defines offenses and penalties for building energy certification, with fines from €300 to €6,000 depending on whether the offense is minor, serious or very serious, and sets a calendar requiring buildings over 50 years old to have the Building Evaluation Report within a maximum of five years.

Who it affects

• Owners of apartments and premises in collective residential buildings: They can be required to commission the Building Evaluation Report and pay for conservation, accessibility and energy efficiency works.
• Homeowners' associations and housing cooperatives: They gain capacity to manage and fund works, form administrative associations and receive aid.
• Tenants and legal occupants of affected homes: They have the right to rehousing, temporary accommodation and return when works force them out.
• Sellers and landlords of properties: They must hand over the energy performance certificate; failing to do so is a punishable offense.
• City councils and public administrations: They must promote rehabilitation and regeneration actions and can fund them through agreements.

Words worth knowing

Informe de Evaluación de los Edificios (Building Evaluation Report)

A document reviewing a building's state of repair, accessibility and energy efficiency.

Regeneración y renovación urbanas (urban regeneration and renewal)

Actions that improve not just individual buildings but entire neighborhoods or urban areas, possibly including demolitions and new construction.

Ajustes razonables (reasonable adjustments)

Works or measures to make a building accessible to people with disabilities, provided the cost is not disproportionate.

Infravivienda (substandard housing)

Housing that fails to meet minimum legal standards of size, safety, accessibility or habitability.

Realojamiento (rehousing)

The right of someone evicted from their habitual residence due to an urban action to receive another suitable home.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries