Comprehensive Plan to Respond to the Crisis in the Middle East

Royal Decree-Law 7/2026, of March 20, approving the Comprehensive Plan to Respond to the Crisis in the Middle East, establishes a specific legal regime for concession contracts for the promotion of social or affordable housing on publicly owned land or properties, amending Law 9/2017, of November 8.

According to the preamble:

“This new regime will make it possible to promote social or affordable housing on publicly owned land or properties with much greater efficiency and ease, thereby helping the public housing stock to grow at a faster pace. All this in a context of rising housing prices and a public housing stock that is smaller than necessary. The growth of the public stock in a context such as the current one will make it possible to more effectively address price increases and market tensions in times of inflation and international instability like the present one. Thus, this measure helps to simplify the procedures that public administrations must carry out to streamline the contracting, tendering and execution of new public housing developments. In short, it facilitates the use of a type of contract that is essential for increasing the affordable public housing stock, and, at the state level, facilitates the work of the state public housing company, CASA 47, in fulfilling its mission of offering citizens a large state stock of affordable housing. In this way, the circle is closed regarding the promotion of measures that urgently and immediately provide the aforementioned holistic response that the housing market needs in our country, all within the social and economic context derived from international instability and the war in Iran, which is causing market tensions and price increases that can be more effectively addressed with a public stock.”

The text is as follows:

Tenth Final Provision. Amendment of Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts, transposing into the Spanish legal system the Directives of the European Parliament and of the Council 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU, of February 26, 2014.

A new fifty-seventh additional provision is introduced into Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts, transposing into the Spanish legal system the Directives of the European Parliament and of the Council 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU, of February 26, 2014, worded as follows:

“Fifty-seventh additional provision. Legal regime applicable to concession contracts for the promotion of social or affordable housing on publicly owned land or properties.

Concession contracts, when their purpose is the execution of construction or rehabilitation works on publicly owned land or properties and are to be destined for social or affordable housing, shall be subject to the regulation of works concession contracts and service concession contracts established in this law, as applicable depending on the purpose of the concession, with the following exceptions:

(a) The maximum term provided for in Article 29.6 may be extended up to eighty years, to be determined according to the estimated period of recovery of the investment.

(b) Prior drafting of the preliminary draft and project by the granting Administration, provided for in Articles 248 and 249, shall not be necessary.

(c) The contracting authority, prior to the tendering of the contract, shall approve an economic-financial feasibility study, without it being necessary to submit it to public information or requiring the prior report of the National Evaluation Office or that of the Superior Committee on Prices of State Contracts. The health and safety study, or, where applicable, the basic health and safety study, as well as the study of operational and technological risks in the construction and operation of the works shall be carried out by the successful bidder.

(d) The application of the discount rate provided for in Royal Decree 55/2017, of February 3, which develops Law 2/2015, of March 30, on the de-indexation of the Spanish economy, shall not be mandatory. For the calculation of the investment recovery period, a discount rate between the average yield on the secondary market of ten-year State debt over the last six months and the result of increasing that yield by a differential of 400 basis points may be adopted. The last available data published by the Bank of Spain in the Public Debt Market Bulletin shall be taken as a reference for the calculation of said average yield.

(e) The administrative clauses specifications are excluded from the obligation to refer to the minimum threshold of profits and the distribution of relevant risks between the Administration and the concessionaire, provided for in Article 250.

(f) Joint processing with the feasibility study of the expediency and opportunity file required of local entities by paragraph 5 of the third additional provision shall not be necessary.

(g) For the assignment of the contract, the time limitation provided for in Article 214.2(b) shall not apply, but in no case may it be authorized before the completion of the construction works that are the subject of the concession.”