Three housing decrees repealed in six months: managing a project

Between March and early October 2026 Congress repealed three Real Decreto-ley on housing and rent: RDL 8/2026 (28 April), RDL 26/2026 and RDL 27/2026 (both on 2 October) (BOE-A-2026-9359, BOE-A-2026-20526, BOE-A-2026-20527). A Real Decreto-ley (RDL, royal decree-law) is a government act with the force of law that applies immediately but must be validated or repealed by Congress within thirty days. On 13 October 2026, RDL 29/2026 is in force (since 8 October), and RDL 28/2026 has not yet entered into force (it will on 15 November); Congress had not validated either of them as of 13 October.

What happened to the housing decrees in 2026?

A timeline based on the BOE texts.

The Constitution requires Congress to rule on validation within thirty days of the act's promulgación (promulgation) (Article 86.2). So the fate of RDL 28/2026 and 29/2026 will become clear in the coming weeks, and until then they remain provisional. After a repeal the BOE publishes Congress's decision, and the changes introduced by the act lose effect (BOE references call this pérdida de efectos, loss of effect).

Why does a repeal not reset everything at once?

The acts refer to one another. The transitional provisions of RDL 29/2026 deal with tenants' applications filed under the repealed RDL 8/2026 while it was in force. The titles coincide: RDL 29/2026 has the same title as the repealed RDL 26/2026, and RDL 28/2026 the same as the repealed RDL 27/2026. In addition, RDL 28/2026 replaces Article 10 of the urban leases law (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos, LAU), paragraph 1 of which has already been amended by Article 3 (paragraph eight) of RDL 29/2026. If one act's fate turns out different from the other's, lawyers will have to work out which version of the rule applies. How that will be resolved cannot be said in advance; it is a question for the abogado (lawyer).

Second, many rules protect transactions signed before a certain date. Article 1 of RDL 29/2026 does not affect purchases formalised in an escritura (public deed) before the act entered into force (analysis of the article). Landlord notices of non-renewal sent before RDL 28/2026 was published remain valid under its transitional provision. The date of signing and of sending documents becomes an economic parameter.

What should go into project contracts?

A list of questions to discuss with the abogado, not a ready-made wording.

1. Change-in-law clause. What counts as the triggering event: publication of the act, entry into force, validation, repeal, publication of the repeal decision in the BOE. Which side bears the risk depends on the date chosen.
2. Consequences. The right to extend the term, recalculate the price, exit the transaction or split costs equally if the act has changed the conditions.
3. Deadlines. The escritura date, the payment deadline, the deadline for returning arras (deposit) and the option to push them back until Congress decides.
4. Current wording. Recording in the contract the date as of which the wording of the rules was checked in the BOE.
5. Transitional provisions. Which steps must be completed before the date from which the new rule applies.

The general approach to clauses and regulatory risk is described in the article on regulatory risk in Catalonia.

What does waiting cost in a project calculation?

Worked example, not a forecast. Assumptions in round numbers: 1 M€ invested, monthly holding costs of 4 000 € (taxes, insurance, utilities, financing). The parties push back closing while waiting for Congress's decision.

The delay itself is cheap relative to the price; a transaction whose terms change after signing, with a contract that says nothing about it, costs more. You can check your own timing figures in the calculator.

When this approach does not work

Clauses do not protect against a rule that applies to the transaction regardless of the contract, for example a purchase restriction or the rental rules: the law outranks the contract. They do not replace checking the act's status in the BOE before signing. And they do not work where the counterparty refuses to accept them: then what remains is deciding whether to sign with an unclear status. That decision belongs to the owner of the capital together with the abogado, not to this article.

If you need to go through the structure of a specific project and its timetable, you can discuss it through contact; how residential projects are handled is described on the residential property page.