The housing measures that decline after Congress's rejection of the Government's decrees-law

In the Spanish legal system, a royal decree-law (RDL) is a regulation with the force of law issued by the Government in cases of extraordinary and urgent need (art. 86 CE). It comes into effect immediately after its publication in the BOE, but is subject to essential political control: the Congress of Deputies must decide on its validation or repeal within a maximum period of 30 days from its enactment.

When a royal decree-law reaches the Congress, the parliamentary processing goes, in a simplified way, through these phases:

• Approval and publication by the Government: the Council of Ministers approves the RDL and it is published in the BOE, coming into effect.
• Referral to the Congress: the Government sends it to the lower chamber, which must include its validation on the agenda of a Plenary session within 30 days.
• Validation debate: a focused debate takes place in the Plenary, with intervention from the Government and parliamentary groups.
• Validation vote: the Congress decides whether to validate (maintain the validity of the RDL) or repeal it (render it ineffective).
• Possible decision to process it as a bill: if validated, the Plenary may agree to also process it as a bill, opening the amendment phase.

If the Congress rejects a royal decree-law, it is understood that the parliamentary processing has been exhausted at that phase of validation debate and vote. That is:

• The RDL has already been approved by the Government and has been in effect since its publication, but the Congress has decided not to validate it.
• The phase of processing as a bill is not opened (because that possibility only arises if it is previously validated).
• From the moment of parliamentary repeal, the RDL ceases to be in effect, without prejudice to certain legal situations produced during its validity being maintained, according to the criteria of the Constitutional Court.

From that rejection, Parliament has closed the “parliamentary life” of that specific RDL. However, the possibility of legislating again on the same matter remains open, for example in housing. What changes are the forms and limits with which the Government can act.

Government's subsequent options after rejection, applied to the housing field

If the Government wants to insist on regulation on housing after an RDL has been rejected, it generally has these options:

• 1. Present a new bill
  This is the ordinary route. The Government can approve in the Council of Ministers and submit to the Cortes a bill on housing, with the content it deems appropriate, respecting the Constitution and the distribution of powers between the State and autonomous communities.
  • It is processed through the ordinary or urgent procedure, with general debate, amendments, committee, and Plenary in both Congress and Senate.
  • Allows for more extensive negotiation with groups, correcting aspects that motivated the rejection of the RDL (scope of measures, competential impacts, balance between tenant and owner protection, etc.).
• 2. Try again with a different royal decree-law
  In theory, the Constitution does not prohibit the Government from issuing a new RDL on housing. However:
  • A situation of extraordinary and urgent need must be justified again; repeated use of RDLs on the same matter increases the risk of political criticism and Constitutional Court scrutiny.
  • The new text would have to offer content and justification sufficiently differentiated from the previous one, or incorporate changes addressing objections expressed by the parliamentary majority.
  • In any case, it would again be subject to validation by the Congress within 30 days, with the associated political uncertainty.
• 3. Encourage groups to present bills
  Although the Government does not directly present bills, it can negotiate with its parliamentary groups or allies so that they register one or more bills on housing:
  • These are initiatives from the groups, but they can largely reproduce the Government's political design, adapted to the actual majorities.
  • The processing is similar to that of a bill, and the Government participates through its majority and amendments.
• 4. Non-legislative or lower-rank measures
  In parallel or while a law is processed, the Government can:
  • Develop regulatory norms within the margins of existing competences.
  • Promote plans, investment programs, or agreements in housing (e.g., rental aid, collaboration with autonomous communities and municipalities) that do not require a new state law or rely on existing legislation.

Constitutional limits and control

In all cases, the Government must respect:

• The limitations of article 86 CE for RDLs: they cannot affect basic State institutions, rights in Title I in their core, the regime of autonomous communities, nor general electoral law.
• The distribution of competences in housing between the State and autonomous communities, which the Constitutional Court has defined in numerous rulings.
• The constitutional review: both RDLs and housing laws can be challenged before the Constitutional Court for formal unconstitutionality (lack of urgency, overstepping competences) or material unconstitutionality (violation of fundamental rights or other constitutional provisions).

In short, a rejected royal decree-law has exhausted its course at the moment of the validation vote, but the legislative field on housing remains open. The Government must then choose the most viable combination of new bills, parliamentary negotiation, and, with great caution, possible new decree-laws, always within the margins set by the Constitution and the Chamber's majorities.

In the Spanish constitutional system, royal decree-laws (RDL) are regulations with the force of law issued by the Government in cases of extraordinary and urgent need. However, their full validity depends on the intervention of the Congress of Deputies, which has exclusive powers in their validation and possible initial repeal, according to article 86 of the Constitution.

1. Exclusive competence of the Congress versus other bodies

The validation or repeal of royal decree-laws is an exclusive competence of the Congress of Deputies:

• The Senate does not intervene in this phase: it neither validates nor repeals RDLs.
• The control is therefore a political-legal control concentrated in the lower chamber, which acts as a counterbalance to the Government's power to issue regulations with the force of law without prior parliamentary processing.

2. Obligation to submit the RDL to the Congress

Once a royal decree-law is approved and published by the Government:

• The Government must immediately send it to the Congress.
• The Congress is obliged to debate and vote on it within a maximum period of 30 days from its enactment.

The Congress's competence at this stage consists of:

• Including the RDL on the agenda of the Plenary within that period.
• Holding a specific debate, in which the Government's arguments are confronted with those of the parliamentary groups.
• Adopting a definitive decision on its initial validity: validate or repeal it.

3. Validation of a royal decree-law

Validation is the act by which the Congress accepts that the RDL remains in force:

• It is adopted by voting in the Plenary, usually by a simple majority of the deputies present (more votes in favor than against, without requiring an absolute majority).
• The vote is binary: the Congress can only choose between validating or repealing; at this stage it cannot introduce partial amendments.
• If the Congress validates the RDL:
  • The text remains in force with the force of law.
  • It is maintained, in principle, as approved by the Government.

Additionally, along with validation, the Congress has another relevant power:

• It may agree that the RDL be processed as a bill by the urgent procedure. In that case:
  • The text of the RDL becomes the basis of a bill.
  • An ordinary parliamentary procedure opens (committee, amendments, etc.), in which the Congress (and later the Senate) can thoroughly modify the original content.

This decision to process it as a bill is a power of the Congress in the same act of validation, which allows redirecting an exceptional use of the decree-law towards the ordinary legislative channel.

4. Parliamentary repeal of the royal decree-law

If the Congress, after debate, rejects validation, parliamentary repeal of the RDL occurs:

• Non-validation means that the royal decree-law ceases to have effect from that moment, without prejudice to:
  • The possible regulation of legal situations produced during its validity, which may require subsequent norms.
• The repeal is also adopted by Plenary vote, usually by simple majority, resulting in repeal when there are more votes against validation than in favor.

This immediate repeal power is an essential element of parliamentary control: it allows the Congress to assess whether the circumstances of extraordinary and urgent need really existed and whether the content of the RDL respects the material limits set by the Constitution (for example, it cannot affect certain rights, the regime of Autonomous Communities, etc.).

5. Political control and articulation with the rest of the system

Besides the validation or repeal vote, the Congress's powers extend over RDLs more broadly:

• Through the plenary debate, in which groups can:
  • Question the political opportunity of using the decree-law.
  • Assess the material adequacy of its content.
  • Announce future legislative initiatives to correct or replace it.
• Through the decision to open the bill procedure, which allows the Congress to correct or nuance the text initially issued by the Government.
• Through the subsequent approval of ordinary or organic laws that modify or replace the content of an already validated RDL.

In short, regarding royal decree-laws, the Congress of Deputies is the body that controls their initial validity (validation or repeal), decides whether to open full legislative processing, and, through its ordinary activity, can correct over time the Government's use of this exceptional figure.

Currently, after new reforms have not progressed, rental contracts for habitual residence in Spain are essentially governed by the Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases (LAU), as amended by successive modifications, and by Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing. Complementary regulations affecting specific aspects such as rent updates, deposits, or certain public support programs for rentals are also added.

In summary, the core of the current state regulation of habitual residence rental is based on the following texts:

Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases (LAU)

It is the basic civil law regulating lease contracts for housing and for uses other than housing. Its current text —partially modified over the years and with some provisions repealed by Law 1/2000, of Civil Procedure— establishes, for habitual residence rentals:

• Scope of application and concept of habitual residence: determines when a lease is considered for housing (tenant's permanent domicile) and, therefore, is subject to the protective regime of the LAU versus seasonal or non-housing leases.
• Minimum duration and extensions: starts from freedom of contract, but imposes a legal minimum duration and mandatory extensions in favor of the tenant (with different terms depending on the reform applicable at each time), as well as an additional tacit extension if neither party opposes at expiration.
• Rent and its update: recognizes freedom to set the initial rent, but subjects its update to what the parties agree within legal limits, referring to reference indices later set by sectoral regulation.
• Deposit and additional guarantees: requires a cash deposit equivalent to one month's rent in housing leases and allows, with limits, additional guarantees (deposits, guarantees, etc.).
• Rights and obligations of landlord and tenant: maintenance of the dwelling, repairs, assignment and subletting, causes for contract termination, and subrogation regime in case of tenant's death or marital crisis.
• Transitional regime: contains specific rules for prior contracts (e.g., those entered under Decree-law 2/1985 or the 1964 Law), still relevant for certain old relationships.

The full updated text can be consulted in the BOE: Law 29/1994, on Urban Leases.

Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing

Law 12/2023 does not replace the LAU as the basic civil norm of the contract, but modulates it in key aspects of habitual residence rental:

• Definition of areas of tense residential market and measures to limit rent evolution in those areas, especially when the landlord is a large holder.
• Rent containment criteria in new contracts in tense areas, taking as reference the previous rent or official indices, conditioning freedom to set the price in those cases.
• Strengthening of information and transparency obligations in contracts, particularly regarding large holders and the condition of the dwelling.
• Fiscal and housing policy measures (e.g., on public housing stock or surcharges on IBI for vacant dwellings) which, although not strictly civil, affect the regulatory environment of rentals.

The official text is available at: Law 12/2023, on the right to housing.

Regulations on rent updates and support instruments

Besides the LAU and Law 12/2023, there are state provisions affecting specific points of contracts:

• Resolution of December 18, 2024 of the INE Presidency, which defines the reference index for the annual update of housing lease contracts. This resolution specifies the official indicator that replaces the CPI as the general reference for annual rent revision when the contract refers to the index set by regulation: Resolution on reference index.
• Royal Decree 42/2022, of January 18, which regulates the Youth Rental Bonus and the State Plan for Access to Housing 2022-2025. It does not modify the civil structure of the contract but establishes public aid and programs that de facto affect the economic conditions of rentals: Royal Decree 42/2022.
• Various royal decree-laws issued since 2020 (especially Royal Decree-law 11/2020, of March 31, and Royal Decree-law 6/2022, of March 29) introduced extraordinary and temporary measures on rental moratoriums, eviction suspensions, or limits on rent updates, many of which have been extended, modified, or partially repealed. Today their impact is more limited and must be checked article by article depending on the contract date and the specific validity of each measure.

Relevant procedural and constitutional regulations

Although they do not regulate contract content, the following must be considered:

• Law 1/2000, of Civil Procedure, which adapts eviction and rent claim processes, and is the reference for judicial protection of rights derived from rental contracts.
• Several Constitutional Court rulings on Law 12/2023 and on autonomous community laws on rent containment, which delimit the distribution of competences between State and autonomous communities and condition the scope of some rental measures.

In sum, after the failure or non-approval of new reforms, the current framework of habitual residence rental contracts is structured around the 1994 LAU as the basic civil norm, complemented by Law 12/2023 on the right to housing and rent containment, the resolution setting the official rent update index, and sectoral and procedural regulations affecting the practical functioning of the rental market.