Spain only has 1.5% of public housing, far from the 34% of the Netherlands.

A “national housing strategy” in Spain is not, by itself, a unique legal category. It can take various forms (government plan, political communication, or even content of a law), and the type of parliamentary processing depends on this. The Congress Rules clearly distinguish between norms with the rank of law and government programs or plans subject to parliamentary debate and pronouncement.

1. Government approval of the strategy

In practice, the starting point is usually the Government:

• If the strategy is configured as a government plan or program, it can be approved by agreement of the Council of Ministers (for example, as “National Housing Strategy 20XX–20YY”) without the immediate need for a specific law, provided it does not itself create new subjective rights, direct legal obligations, or expenses exceeding those already foreseen in current laws, especially in the General State Budgets.
• When the strategy requires regulatory changes (new aids, modifications to the rental regime, land reservations, new taxes or tax benefits, etc.), the Government must articulate those changes through a bill or, where appropriate, other instruments with the rank of law (such as a royal decree-law that will later be ratified or processed as a bill).

In summary: the political-strategic design can be approved by the Executive, but its full legal effectiveness usually depends on one or more laws that develop it.

2. Processing as a bill in the Cortes Generales

When the Government decides to embody all or part of the housing strategy in a law, the ordinary legislative procedure applies (Title V of the Congress Rules):

• The Government submits a bill to the Congress, accompanied by a statement of reasons and background (art. 109).
• The Board orders its publication, opens the period for amendments, and sends it to the competent Committee (usually Housing and Urban Agenda or the one assuming the matter).
• Groups may submit total amendments (return or alternative text) and to the articles. If there are total amendments, a totality debate in Plenary is held; if the return is approved, the text falls; if an alternative text is approved, processing continues on that new text.
• The bill goes to the Working Group (which prepares a report) and then to the Committee, which approves a report.
• That report is debated and voted on in the Congress Plenary (unless the Committee has full legislative competence or a single reading is chosen, art. 150), and once approved, it is sent to the Senate, where its own procedure follows (amendments, veto, etc.).
• Once definitively approved by both Chambers, the text is sent to the King for sanction and promulgation and published in the BOE.

3. Processing as a government program or plan (without rank of law)

If the “national housing strategy” is submitted as a program or plan to obtain the pronouncement of the Cortes, Title XI of the Congress Rules comes into play, which regulates the examination and debate of government communications, programs, or plans:

• Article 198 provides that if the Government sends a program or plan requesting the Congress's pronouncement, the Board sends it to the competent Committee.
• The Committee Board organizes the processing, sets deadlines, and may designate a Working Group to study the document.
• The debate in Committee follows the provisions for government communications (arts. 196-197): initial government intervention, group turns, and possibility to submit proposals for resolution.
• If it is decided that the proposals for resolution are debated in Plenary, the deadline to submit them is three days; they are debated and voted on, possibly including both support and criticisms or political conditions to the strategy.

These resolutions do not have the rank of law but set a political position of the Chamber that can condition the implementation of the plan.

4. Parliamentary control and non-legislative agreements

Aside from the main processing, the Cortes exercise constant control over the housing strategy through various instruments:

• Appearances of the competent minister in committee or Plenary to report on the design, execution, and results of the strategy (arts. 202 and 203 of the Congress Rules).
• Oral or written questions and interpellations addressed to the Government on specific aspects (executed budget, territorial impact, indicators, etc.).
• Non-legislative motions and other non-legislative resolutions approved by committees or Plenary, recommending changes, reinforcements, or corrections to the strategy.
• Monographic debates based on government communications (art. 196), concluding with proposals for resolution (art. 197).

The Senate reproduces, with its own Rules, very similar schemes: it can debate government plans or communications, approve motions, and exercise control through questions, interpellations, and appearances. Although the central political initiative on a national housing strategy is usually concentrated in the Congress, the Upper Chamber participates both in the legislative part (if there is a law) and in political control.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda (MIVAU) is, according to Royal Decree 208/2024, of February 27, the department of the General State Administration responsible for proposing and executing the Government's policy on housing, Urban Agenda, building quality, and land. Within this framework are its competencies on public housing and the public housing stock, which must always be read in coordination with the autonomous communities and local entities, holders of much of the executive competencies in the matter.

1. General framework of competencies

According to article 1 of Royal Decree 208/2024 and Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing, the Ministry:

• Designs and executes the state housing policy, including programming objectives, lines of action, and state plans in coordination with other ministries.
• Plans and co-finances housing policies through multi-year state plans that set programs, criteria, and requirements for granting aid aimed at protected housing, affordable rental, and rehabilitation.
• Defines the basic framework that guarantees minimum homogeneous conditions throughout the territory (art. 12 et seq. of Law 12/2023), respecting that housing is an area where autonomous communities have very broad competencies.
• Promotes inter-administrative coordination through the Housing and Land Sectoral Conference and multilateral and bilateral commissions (arts. 20 to 22 of Law 12/2023).

2. Internal structure linked to public housing

Royal Decree 208/2024 identifies the bodies directly linked to public housing policies:

• State Secretariat for Housing and Urban Agenda: directs the state housing policy and exercises strategic direction over the public entity SEPES/Public Housing and Land Entity.
• General Secretariat for Urban Agenda, Housing, and Architecture: coordinates all competencies affecting housing, architecture, building, urban policies, and land (art. 3).
• Directorate General for Housing and Land:
  • Prepares sectoral regulations affecting housing, rehabilitation, urban regeneration, and renewal (art. 5.1.a).
  • Designs and manages the state housing aid plans (art. 5.1.c) and their financing.
  • Manages agreements with autonomous communities and other territorial entities to execute housing plans and policies, including the regeneration of vulnerable environments (art. 5.1.f).
  • Proposes guidelines for land management oriented to housing policy and participates in actions of transfer, use, and disposal of urban land (arts. 5.2.a and 5.2.e-f).
  • Coordinates the state system of urban and housing information, rental indices, and analysis of the residential stock (arts. 5.2.b-d and 5.2.h-i).
• Directorate General for Planning and Evaluation: assumes obtaining and managing data for state planning in housing matters, including:
  • Preparing and maintaining an inventory of the public housing stock (art. 6.1.c).
  • Drafting a report on the characteristics and use of the public stock and a “social housing map” (art. 6.1.d).
  • Forming the database of rental contracts and the information necessary for reference price indices (art. 6.1.f).

3. Specific functions on public housing and public stock

Law 12/2023 details the State's role regarding public housing:

• State action in housing (art. 12): the State plans and finances policies to facilitate the exercise of the right to housing, prioritizing vulnerable groups and strengthening cooperation with autonomous communities and local entities for rehousing and access to decent housing.
• Public housing stocks (arts. 27 to 29):
  • They are conceived as an instrument to guarantee the right to housing for households with greater difficulties.
  • Autonomous legislation regulates their composition, but the State can incentivize their creation, expansion, and conservation through state plans, aids, and financing criteria.
  • State funds are increasingly conditioned on the financed housing remaining in the public stock or protected in a stable manner.
• State planning and programs (arts. 23 and 24):
  • State plans must prioritize:
    • The creation, expansion, and management of public housing stocks.
    • The construction and rehabilitation of housing subject to public protection.
    • Attention to young people and more vulnerable persons.
  • These plans are applied through agreements with autonomous communities, which co-finance and execute the actions.

4. Coordination with autonomous communities and local entities

Regarding public housing, the Ministry does not directly manage most autonomous or municipal stocks. Its competencies focus on:

• Setting the common framework and financing requirements, conditioning state resources to the permanent protection of financed housing and its social destination.
• Articulating cooperation through the Housing and Land Sectoral Conference, bilateral commissions, and execution agreements.
• Strengthening transparency and evaluation: requires information from autonomous communities on rentals, protected housing, and public stocks to feed state databases and evaluate results.

In summary, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda exercises a mainly strategic, normative, financial, and coordination function regarding public housing and the public housing stock, while promotion, allocation, and daily management largely correspond to autonomous communities and municipalities.

In Spain, there is no single “protected housing law” or “housing cooperatives law,” but rather a framework of basic state norms combined with very intense development by the autonomous communities. At the state level, the following pieces are especially relevant today.

1. Protected housing and affordable housing

a) Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing (consolidated text)

• It is the first state law that comprehensively addresses the right to housing (art. 47 CE) and sets basic conditions to guarantee homogeneous protection throughout the State.
• It contains key definitions (art. 3) and regulates, among other aspects, the content of the right of property of housing, public action in housing matters, public stocks, and state planning.
• Article 16 (protected housing): regulated protected housing as a basic category, but it has been declared unconstitutional and null by STC 79/2024; therefore, the specific configuration of protected housing remains mainly in the hands of the autonomous communities and their own regulations.
• Article 17 (incentivized affordable housing): creates the figure of “incentivized affordable housing,” aimed at expanding the supply of housing at reasonable prices through:
  • Use limitations (main residence) and maximum income limits depending on the public benefits received (urbanistic, fiscal, etc.).
  • Possibility of being new or existing housing, provided they meet quality requirements.
  • A more flexible regime than classic protected housing (does not require formal qualification as VPO, but is subject to the rules established by each administration).
• The law also provides for areas of tense residential market, public housing stocks, and bases for state planning and public-private collaboration.

b) Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30, approving the revised text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law (consolidated text)

• It is the basic state norm on land, territorial planning, and urban rehabilitation and regeneration actions.
• It recognizes citizens' right to enjoy decent and adequate housing and articulates urban duties and charges linked to that objective.
• It regulates urban and building transformation actions, community participation in capital gains, and public land heritage, central elements for land reservation for protected housing.
• It expressly provides that homeowners' associations and housing cooperatives may be promoters of actions in the urban environment, which serves as an urbanistic basis for protected housing cooperatives.

c) Law 29/1994, of Urban Leases (LAU) (consolidated text)

• It is the basic norm on housing and commercial lease contracts.
• It includes a specific article on leases of official protection housing for rent, which:
  • Links the duration of the VPO legal regime for rent to the amortization period of the qualified loan or, failing that, to 25 years from the definitive qualification.
  • Sets criteria on maximum rents, rent reviews, and nullity of clauses exceeding authorized limits.
  • Refers to autonomous regulations when specific regulation exists.

d) State Housing Plan 2026‑2030, approved by Royal Decree 326/2026, of April 22 (BOE)

• Develops Law 12/2023 in terms of housing aid and programs, including specific lines to promote affordable rental, protected housing, rehabilitation, and mobilization of vacant housing.
• Defines housing and beneficiary requirements, rental/transfer price limits, and conditions for public promotion actions and collaboration with social entities and cooperatives.

2. Housing cooperatives

a) Law 27/1999, of July 16, on Cooperatives (consolidated text)

• It is the basic state norm on cooperative societies within state competence (coexists with numerous autonomous cooperative laws).
• Defines the concept of cooperative society, its constitution, social bodies, economic regime, members' liability, transformation, and liquidation.
• Although there is no exclusive title for “housing cooperatives,” the law:
  • Allows the creation of cooperatives whose activity is the promotion, construction, or management of housing for their members.
  • Generally regulates capital contributions, use of properties by members, transfer of contributions, and the relationship between the cooperative and user members.
• Details (definition of housing cooperative, allocation limits, use transfer, etc.) are usually developed in autonomous cooperative laws.

b) Law 1/2026, of April 8, comprehensive promotion of the social economy (BOE)

• Strengthens the promotion framework for social economy entities, including housing cooperatives.
• Provides financial support, promotion, and recognition measures that can be applied to cooperative projects of protected or affordable housing.

3. Role of autonomous communities

Although the above norms constitute the basic state framework, the specific regulation of protected housing and housing cooperatives is largely autonomous:

• Each community approves its own housing and protected housing laws (typologies, maximum prices, protection periods, qualification and declassification procedures, allocation, demand registries, etc.).
• It also enacts its cooperative law, where the housing cooperative is usually more specifically defined, its modalities (ownership, use transfer, rental), and particularities in allocation and use of housing.
• Autonomous housing plans specify the territorial application of the State Plan and aid for cooperative promotion.

In summary, today protected housing in Spain relies on Law 12/2023, the revised Land Law, the LAU, and state housing plans, while housing cooperatives are governed by Law 27/1999 and social economy regulations, always complemented by very determinant autonomous regulations in practice.