Murcia approves new housing law to target hidden costs that inflate rising house prices

The new affordable housing law comes into force on Wednesday to prevent developers from inflating property prices through extras such as garages and storage rooms

The Regional Government's new affordable housing law has been published in the Official Gazette of the Region of Murcia (BORM) and comes into force on Wednesday July 8. However, it still needs to be approved by the Regional Assembly within the next 30 days.

The new law comes as Murcia continues to face a housing shortage. House prices rose by 16.5% in the first three months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE), while the number of new homes being built has failed to keep up with demand.

The measures, announced in recent months by Regional Minister for Infrastructure and Territorial Development Jorge García Montoro, will make it quicker and easier to build affordable homes across the Region.

One of the biggest changes is that all planning and administrative procedures linked to affordable housing will now be treated as urgent. The law also introduces a new planning process, known as the Unified Residential Project, which combines planning, land and environmental approvals into a single application. The Regional Government says this could cut approval times by up to 50%.

The law also includes incentives for developers to build affordable homes on former industrial land, such as parts of El Ranero in Murcia, and on sites with archaeological remains, which are common in Cartagena and Lorca. Depending on the location, developers could be allowed to build up to 50% more than normally permitted.

In areas with archaeological remains, developers may also be able to add an extra floor above the usual height limit without having to go through a lengthy planning amendment.

Minimum home size and annual price reviews

Affordable homes must have a minimum floor area of 35 square metres and a minimum width of 3.5 metres. Local councils will no longer be able to approve smaller homes, even if their planning rules currently allow it.

The law does not yet set the maximum sale or rental price per square metre. Those figures, along with the eligibility rules for buyers and tenants, will be confirmed at a later date. However, it does state that maximum prices will be updated every year on January 1 in line with inflation.

To stop developers pushing up prices through extras, the law also places limits on features such as garages, storage rooms and uncovered terraces. Garages and storage rooms cannot be valued at more than 60% of the home's price, while uncovered terraces are capped at 40%.

New rules for flood-risk areas

The law also changes how building heights are measured for homes built on urban land in areas identified as being at risk of flooding.

Instead of measuring from street level, the maximum height will be calculated from the level of a flood expected to occur once every 500 years. Parking spaces and storage rooms will still be allowed below that level.

Local councils will also have the final say on whether to introduce some of the measures included in the law. These include completing unfinished housing developments, allowing homes to be built on some commercial land and permitting apartment developments on ground floors.

Councils that decide not to adopt these measures will have six months from the date the law comes into force to formally opt out.

Read also: More families to qualify for reduced VAT on new homes in Murcia

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