Four regions governed by the Partido Popular — Madrid, Andalusia, Extremadura and Cantabria — have announced that they will challenge the State Housing Plan 2026–2030 in the courts. They have agreed to take part in the distribution of funds, but reject one of the conditions set by the central government: that homes built with public money must remain permanently protected.
The plan
The State Housing Plan 2026–2030 has a total budget of €7 billion, with €4.2 billion from the state and €2.8 billion from the regions. Its aim is to increase the stock of public and affordable housing by building, buying or renovating homes.
The point of contention
The plan requires that homes funded under it keep their protected status permanently, preventing them from being sold later on the open market. The PP regions argue that housing is a regional responsibility under the Constitution, and that the government is trying to impose a national rule through funding conditions instead of legislation.
The government’s position is that if the state puts money into housing, it can set conditions on how that money is used. Permanent protection, it argues, prevents homes built with public funds from ending up on the private market, where they would no longer be affordable.
The legal background
The 2023 Housing Law established that protected housing should, in general, be permanent. After an appeal by a PP region, the Constitutional Court ruled in 2024 that the state could not impose such a detailed rule on a matter that the Constitution assigns to the regions — without saying that permanent protection was unconstitutional in itself. Some regions, such as Catalonia and the Basque Country, already have similar rules of their own.
The government’s approach
Following the ruling, the Ministry of Housing has changed tactics, tying state funding to the permanent protection requirement. Regions that refuse to apply other parts of the Housing Law, such as rent caps in “stressed” areas, could also find themselves at a disadvantage in future funding.
What happens next
The regions and the government are negotiating agreements on how the money will be spent. The court challenges could take more than a year to resolve, and if judges grant interim measures, parts of the plan could be suspended in the meantime.
The Balearics
The Balearic government, also led by the PP, has its own housing policy based on public-private partnerships and has defended regional control over housing. How the courts resolve the dispute will affect the rules for protected housing across Spain, including on the islands, where the shortage of affordable homes is among the most acute in the country.
