Remaining in the home at the end of the contract, without having to negotiate from scratch every five or seven years. That is the change proposed by the second housing decree approved by the Government, which establishes successive automatic renewals and compensation for the tenant when the owner decides not to continue, except for certain exceptions. Its continuity will depend on a vote that the Executive has not yet secured.
The publication of the text in the Official State Gazette (BOE) is scheduled for this Thursday, October 1, as confirmed by the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez. The first of the two decrees was published this Wednesday and will come into force on Thursday. Both will arrive separately at the extraordinary plenary session of Congress on Friday.
The separation responds to the disagreement over automatic renewal, a demand from the Tenants' Union that Sumar incorporated into the negotiation. The Government intends to save the broader package even if it does not get the votes for this reform. The first decree includes protection against certain evictions until 2030, regulation of temporary rentals, and an extraordinary extension of up to two years for contracts that meet its requirements.
How rental renewal would change
The second text modifies article 10 of the Urban Leases Law (LAU). Once the minimum duration of five years has been met when the owner is an individual, or seven when it is a company, the contract would be renewed for successive periods of the same duration if neither party communicates its intention to terminate it. The notice period would be six months for the landlord and two for the tenant.
The mechanism would allow chaining renewals without a mandatory final date, although the owner would retain the possibility of not renewing. In that case, they would have to pay, except for the foreseen exceptions, at least twelve months' rent for a dwelling of similar characteristics, calculated according to the state reference system. The compensation could also not be less than one month's rent for each year of residence.
Therefore, the twelve months' rent would be a minimum, not a maximum. If a person had lived twenty years in the house, that second criterion would raise the floor of the compensation to twenty months' rent. The payment would be made upon delivery of the dwelling, and selling the property would not allow avoiding it, because the obligation would pass to the buyer.
The decree contemplates cases in which there would be no need to compensate. Among them, needing the dwelling for the owner or relatives up to the second degree, or for their spouse in case of separation or divorce; that the tenant has another suitable and available dwelling in the same municipality; or that they have not inhabited the house for at least six months of the previous year, except for absences justified by health, work, studies, or care.
Exceptions are also foreseen for accredited vulnerability of the owner or for the formalization or offer of a new contract that meets the required conditions. The causes must be justified in writing. Furthermore, any extension clauses that worsen the original contract to the detriment of the tenant would be null and void.
The application would have a transition. Valid non-renewal notices prior to the entry into force would be exempt from compensation. According to the text, there would also be an exception for contracts expiring within six months after validation, with a four-month notice. Extraordinary extensions are also maintained for certain vulnerable households and dwellings in stressed areas.
Why it runs more risk in Congress
The main obstacle is Junts, which had already expressed its rejection of automatic renewal. The reservations expressed this Wednesday by Míriam Nogueras about the general package also do not allow the first decree to be taken for granted. The PP and the far-right Vox have announced their vote against both norms.
The PNV still has not confirmed its position and Podemos demands that the measures be voted together. In ERC, Oriol Junqueras has announced support for both decrees, while Gabriel Rufián has avoided ratifying it before reviewing all the fine print. Sumar defends both texts, but the Government faces the vote without a closed majority.
Junts' position conditions the possibilities of approval. Their vote against, added to the PP and the far-right Vox, would make it very difficult to save the norm. An abstention would allow another negotiation, although it would force the Executive to gather the support of the rest of the partners, especially PNV and Podemos. The outcome will depend on the final positions and the effective votes of the plenary.
That risk explains the criticism of the distribution of the measures in two texts. Ione Belarra has accused the Government of playing "a trick" by separating the most ambitious reform and has demanded a joint vote. From Sumar, the Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, has also acknowledged that they preferred a single decree, but maintains that they can still get the support for the renewal.
The Executive distinguishes that political decision from the delay in publication, which it attributes to reasons of legislative technique. The second decree modifies provisions affected by the first, so the Government argues that they must be published in that order. Both texts have already been sent to the parliamentary groups to prepare for the vote.
The Tenants' Union fears that temporary protection will go ahead while the permanent stability it demands falls. Its spokesperson Alicia del Río expressed it on 'El Intermedio'. "Chopping it up is a kind of partisan calculation, to see if one falls and the other is approved." The organization maintains the Sol encampment and the mobilizations planned for this Saturday, regardless of the parliamentary result.
