The Constitutional Court upholds the housing law and rejects the Basque appeal

The Plenary of the Constitutional Court has dismissed unconstitutionality appeal 1301-2024, filed by the Governing Council of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country against Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing. Judgment 59/2026, of September 8, 2026, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 253, of October 12, 2026 (reference BOE-A-2026-21250), confirms the constitutionality of the regime for stressed residential market areas and the temporal criterion for the application of leases by large holders.

The resolution, identified as ECLI:ES:TC:2026:59, was issued by the Plenary presided over by Cándido Conde-Pumpido Tourón, with the report by Magistrate Inmaculada Montalbán Huertas. The challenged law had been published in the Official State Gazette no. 124, of May 25, 2023, and the appeal entered the court’s registry on February 26, 2024, after negotiations failed in the Bilateral Cooperation Commission of the General State Administration-Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, initiated on August 11, 2023 (BOE no. 214, of September 7, 2023). The Plenary admitted it for processing by order of March 12, 2024, published in BOE no. 69, of March 19, 2024, and the Congress of Deputies, the Senate, and the National Government appeared, whose State Attorney’s Office requested full dismissal in its written pleadings of April 18, 2024.

The ruling: partial loss of object and dismissal

The court agreed, first, to declare the supervening loss of object of the appeal regarding the challenge to art. 16 of Law 12/2023, already annulled by STC 79/2024, of May 21. Secondly, it dismissed the appeal in all other respects.

The provisions challenged by the Basque Executive were:

• Arts. 3; 10.2; 15.1 d) and e); 16.1; 17 and 18.
• Third additional provision.
• Second transitional provision, first paragraph.
• First final provision, first, third, and sixth paragraphs.
• Fourth final provision.

The grounds were strictly jurisdictional: the claim argued that the State was encroaching upon exclusive Basque competencies in housing, urban planning, and land management (art. 10.31 of the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country) and that several provisions were issued with a supplementary intent.

Stressed areas, price index, and large holders

The court validates the rules on stressed residential market areas, the declaration of which remains voluntary for the autonomous communities pursuant to art. 18.1 of the law. Paragraphs 2 to 5 of art. 18, which order the procedure, the specific plan, and the action program, are considered basic rules protected under art. 149.1.13 of the Constitution, as is the land reserve of art. 15.1 e).

Regarding the state system of reference price indices, the ruling confirms that its approval corresponds to the competent ministerial department and that this does not prevent the autonomous communities from defining their own index. The court admits that, due to the methodology employed, the state system does not have data for the Basque Country and Navarre, but qualifies this as an operational problem unrelated to the law, which can be resolved through the general duty of collaboration. It recalls that historical rights are not an autonomous title for the attribution of competencies.

Established Doctrine and Dissenting Opinions

The ruling relies on the doctrine already established regarding the same regulation in STC 79/2024, of May 21; 26/2025, of January 29; 190/2025, of December 16; 17/2026, of February 24; 41/2026, of May 26, and 53/2026, of July 8. It also specifies that Art. 10.2 of the law is not based on Art. 149.1.8 of the Constitution, but rather on Art. 149.1.13, and that the definitions in Art. 3 are operational and non-displaceable.

The resolution includes dissenting opinions:

• That of Magistrate Ricardo Enríquez Sancho, who disagrees with the ruling and the reasoning, and argues that Art. 3 should have been declared unconstitutional due to its supplementary nature.
• That of Magistrates Enrique Arnaldo Alcubilla, Concepción Espejel Jorquera, and José María Macías Castaño, who reiterate their disagreement with the constitutional doctrine regarding the majority of the validated provisions.

Impact

The endorsement by the Plenary consolidates the state framework for rent price control and the declaration of stressed zones, directly applicable to landlords and tenants throughout Spain. The ruling closes the competency route opened by the Basque Government and reinforces the State’s position against pending autonomous appeals regarding the same law.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 253, of October 12, 2026, Constitutional Court Section, page 136380 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-21250).