Emergency housing measures: rentals, evictions, taxes and public housing

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. Until December 31, 2028, entities whose corporate purpose is buying real estate are barred from acquiring homes below 70% of their market appraisal value, with exceptions such as affordable housing or housing for vulnerable groups.
2. Evictions of vulnerable people with no housing alternative are suspended: until December 31, 2030 when the plaintiff is a vulture fund, and in other cases the competent administration must pay the amounts due (enervar) within two months or it will be subrogated into the debt. The State will compensate the autonomous communities for this cost.
3. The Urban Leasing Act is reformed: seasonal and room rentals are only valid with a real, provable cause, and otherwise become standard residential leases. The sum of room rents cannot exceed the rent of the whole home, tenants cannot be charged real estate management fees, and their right of first refusal is strengthened.
4. At the tenant's request, residential leases ending before December 31, 2028 can be extended by up to two extra years, and annual rent updates are capped until December 31, 2027: no increase if the price exceeds the reference index, and at most 2% otherwise.
5. Personal income tax (IRPF) adds a 10% deduction for renting a main home for low-income taxpayers, restructures reductions for renting at affordable prices, and exempts from tax the sale of vacant homes to public entities that keep them as social housing, until December 31, 2027.
6. Tourist apartments will pay 10% VAT in certain cases, and city councils may apply property tax (IBI) surcharges of up to 150% on tourist-use homes in stressed areas and up to 100% on vacant homes. SOCIMI real estate companies face a special 25% levy on undistributed residential rental profits, with reductions if they rent at affordable prices.
7. The public housing stock is protected: State and Social Security properties are transferred to CASA 47, with binding maximum sale prices and permanent protection against privatization.
8. Access to housing is boosted: affordable housing is defined (price capped at 30% of the municipality's median income), guarantee lines are created for developers and industrialized construction, and the TU CASA mechanism offers interest-free loans of up to €50,000 for the down payment on a first home.

Who it affects

• Tenants of main homes: More protection against eviction, rent increase caps, extraordinary lease extensions and an income tax deduction.
• Landlords: New rules for seasonal and room rentals, price caps in stressed areas, and new tax incentives if they rent at affordable prices.
• Investment funds and large portfolio owners: Limits on buying cheap homes, suspension of evictions when acting as vulture funds, and higher taxes (SOCIMI, IBI, VAT).
• Young people buying their first home: They can apply for a TU CASA loan of up to €50,000, interest-free and with no fees, for the down payment.
• City councils and public administrations: New IBI surcharges, transfer of properties to CASA 47, and State compensation for paying tenants' debts in evictions.

Words worth knowing

Enervación (enervation)

A mechanism by which the tenant pays what is owed and the eviction process ends, with the lease remaining in force.

Fondo buitre (vulture fund)

An entity that buys real estate or unpaid mortgage debts at a price far below their value to maximize profit.

Gran tenedor (large portfolio owner)

A person or company owning more than ten residential properties or more than 1,500 square meters of residential space.

Zona de mercado residencial tensionado (stressed residential market area)

An officially declared area where housing or rental prices have risen alarmingly, allowing price caps to apply.

SOCIMI

A listed Spanish real estate investment company with a special tax regime.

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