Law 8/2013 of June 26 on Rehabilitation, Regeneration and Urban Renewal

OFFICIAL STATE GAZETTE
No. 153 Thursday, June 27, 2013 Sec. I. Page 47964
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
HEAD OF STATE
6938 Law 8/2013, of June 26, on Rehabilitation, Regeneration and Urban Renewal.
JUAN CARLOS I
KING OF SPAIN
To all who shall see and understand this.
Know ye: That the General Courts have approved and I hereby sanction the following law.
Preliminary Title. General Provisions.
Article 1. Object of the Law.
Article 2. Definitions.
Article 3. Common objectives of public policies for a more sustainable, efficient and competitive urban environment.
Title I. The Building Assessment Report.
Article 4. The Building Assessment Report.
Article 5. Administrative coordination.
Article 6. Qualification for the Building Assessment Report.
Title II. Actions on the urban environment.
Chapter I. Actions and obligated subjects.
Article 7. Object of the actions.
Article 8. Obligated subjects.
Chapter II. Planning and management.
Article 9. Initiative in the planning of actions.
Article 10. Basic rules for the planning and execution of actions.
Article 11. Economic viability report.
Article 12. Effects of the delimitation of the management and execution areas of the actions.
Article 13. Forms of execution.
Article 14. Rights of resettlement and return.
Chapter III. Cooperation and coordination formulas to participate in execution.
Article 15. Powers of legitimate subjects.
Article 16. Administrative associations.
Article 17. Agreements for the financing of actions.
Article 18. Interadministrative cooperation.
Article 19. Organization of cooperation.
Additional Provisions.
First Additional Provision. Information service for public policies for a sustainable urban environment.
Second Additional Provision. Real Estate Cadastre. cve: BOE-A-2013-6938

OFFICIAL STATE GAZETTE
No. 153 Thursday, June 27, 2013 Sec. I. Page 47965 Third Additional Provision. Offences regarding the certification of energy efficiency of buildings.
Fourth Additional Provision. Sanctions regarding energy certification of buildings and grading.
Transitory Provisions.
First Transitory Provision. Calendar for the preparation of the Building Assessment Report.
Second Transitory Provision. Temporal rule for the exceptional application of the minimum reserve of land for protected housing.
Sole Repealing Provision.
Final Provisions.
First Final Provision. Modification of Law 49/1960, of July 21, on Horizontal Property.
Second Final Provision. Modification of Law 13/1998, of May 4, on the Organization of the Tobacco Market and Tax Regulations.
Third Final Provision. Modification of Law 38/1999, of November 5, on Building Order.
Fourth Final Provision. Modification of Law 1/2000, of January 7, on Civil Procedure.
Fifth Final Provision. Modification of Law 21/2003, of July 7, on Air Safety.
Sixth Final Provision. Modification of Law 33/2003, of November 3, on the Property of Public Administrations.
Seventh Final Provision. Modification of Law 38/2003, of November 17, General on Subsidies.
Eighth Final Provision. Modification of Law 47/2003, of November 26, General Budgetary Law.
Ninth Final Provision. Modification of Law 58/2003, of December 17, General Tax Law.
Tenth Final Provision. Modification of the consolidated text of the Law Regulating Local Treasuries, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, of March 5.
Eleventh Final Provision. Modification of Royal Decree 314/2006, of March 17, approving the Technical Building Code.
Twelfth Final Provision. Modification of the consolidated text of the Land Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2008, of June 20.
Thirteenth Final Provision. Modification of the consolidated text of the Law on Public Sector Contracts, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 3/2011, of November 14.
Fourteenth Final Provision. Modification of Royal Decree-Law 6/2012, of March 9, on urgent measures for the protection of mortgage debtors without resources.
Fifteenth Final Provision. Modification of Law 9/2012, of November 14, on the restructuring and resolution of credit institutions.
Sixteenth Final Provision. Modification of Law 17/2012, of December 27, on the General State Budgets for the year 2013.
Seventeenth Final Provision. Modification of Law 1/2013, of May 14, on measures to reinforce protection for mortgage debtors, debt restructuring and social rental.
Eighteenth Final Provision. Qualifications required to sign Building Assessment Reports.
Nineteenth Final Provision. Basic nature and competence titles.
Twentieth Final Provision. Entry into force. cve: BOE-A-2013-6938

OFFICIAL STATE GAZETTE
No. 153 Thursday, June 27, 2013 Sec. I. Page 47966 PREAMBLE I The economic and social problems existing around the land and housing market in Spain are of very diverse nature and, to a large extent, predate the economic-financial crisis. Most of them, in fact, have a structural character and not just cyclical, although some of them have been aggravated by the change in the economic cycle, while also contributing to intensifying the crisis.
The Spanish urban planning tradition, as already recognized by the state legislator in Law 8/2007, of May 28, on Land, has focused fundamentally on the production of new cities, unbalancing the necessary equilibrium between such actions and those others, oriented towards existing urban fabrics, which allow intervention in cities in an intelligent manner, trying to generate economic and social well-being and guaranteeing the quality of life of their inhabitants. These other interventions are much more complex, both from the social and economic point of view; complexity that is aggravated at the present moment due to an unfavorable context for public financing, due to budget stabilization processes, and also for private financing, due to restrictions in access to credit, derived from the financial sector crisis and the impoverishment of many families as a consequence of high unemployment levels. However, the path of economic recovery, through the restructuring of the real estate and construction sectors and also the guarantee of a sustainable and inclusive model, both environmental, social and economic, requires focusing all efforts on those actions, that is, rehabilitation and regeneration and urban renewal, which constitute the essential object of this Law. As can be deduced from the Urban Information System and the Study of Residential Sectors in Spain 2011, both prepared by the Ministry of Development, Spain currently possesses, if demand is not reactivated, land capable of accommodating new urban growth for the next forty-five years. This situation is aggravated when it is observed that a large part of these lands are located in environments where no increase in demand is foreseeable in the coming years. To this is added the significant data of vacant new housing, 723,043 dwellings. Both in the short and medium term, it will be very difficult for the real estate and construction sectors to contribute to the growth of the Spanish economy and the generation of employment if they continue to be based, mainly and generally, on the urban transformation of virgin land and the construction of new housing. But even if that were the case, current legislation already gives a complete response to these processes, while there is no development to the same extent that allows supporting rehabilitation operations and regeneration and urban renewal operations, in which, furthermore, legal obstacles still persist that prevent their implementation or even their own technical and economic viability. It is therefore necessary to generate an appropriate regulatory framework for these operations, which not only fills the existing legal gaps, but removes the obstacles that make them impossible in practice and promotes the generation of own income to meet them. Rehabilitation and regeneration and urban renewal also have another relevant role to play in economic recovery, contributing to the restructuring of other sectors, among them, fundamentally tourism. Tourism
activity is key to our country's economy and accounts for more than 10.2% of GDP, providing 11.39% of employment. Numerous "mature" tourist destinations face a systemic problem in which the physical deterioration of their facilities has much to do, and with respect to which, the application of strategies of rehabilitation, regeneration and urban renewal could generate positive impacts that, in turn, would serve as an indispensable lever for the economic development of Spain. cve: BOE-A-2013-6938

OFFICIAL STATE GAZETTE
No. 153 Thursday, June 27, 2013 Sec. I. Page 47967 II It does not seem to admit doubt the fact that the Spanish building stock needs interventions of rehabilitation and regeneration and urban renewal that make effective for all, the constitutional right to a dignified and adequate housing, as well as the requirement of the duty of its owners to maintain the properties in adequate conditions of conservation. Approximately 55% (13,759,266) of said building stock, which amounts to 25,208,622 dwellings, is prior to the year 1980 and almost 21% (5,226,133) have more than 50 years. The only instrument that currently allows determining the degree of conservation of the properties, the Technical Inspection of Buildings, is not only insufficient to guarantee said objective, as is manifested from the most diverse sectors related to construction, but is not even established in all Autonomous Communities, nor is it required in all Spanish municipalities. To this must be added the great distance that separates our building stock from European requirements regarding the energy efficiency of buildings and, through them, of cities. Almost 58% of our buildings were built prior to the first regulation that introduced in Spain minimum criteria of energy efficiency: the basic standard of building NBE-CT-79, on thermal conditions in buildings. The European Union has established a series of objectives in the 20-20-20 Package "Energy and Climate Change", which establishes, for the 27 member countries, two mandatory objectives: the reduction of 20% of greenhouse gas emissions and the increase of the contribution of renewable energies to 20% of consumption, along with an indicative objective, to improve energy efficiency by 20%. These European objectives translate into national objectives and this Law contributes, undoubtedly, to their compliance, through rehabilitation measures that will allow reducing energy consumption, promoting clean energies and that, as a result of the previous measures, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the sector. In relation to this last objective, Spain must reduce in the year 2020, 10% of the emissions from diffuse sectors, with respect to the year 2005. Within these sectors, defined as those not included in the emissions trading scheme, is the residential sector, which, together with the commercial and institutional sector represents 22% of diffuse emissions, and is also responsible for indirect emissions, due to electricity consumption. Emissions from diffuse sectors represent 2/3 of the total, so the objective of advancing in a "low carbon economy", through actions on low-quality housing, which in Spain are located between those built in the decades of the 50s, 60s and 70s, and improving the efficiency of the entire residential stock, is key. Precisely, the recent Directive 2012/27/EU, on energy efficiency, after recognizing that buildings represent 40% of final energy consumption in the European Union, obliges not only to renovate
annually a significant percentage of the buildings of central Administrations to improve their energy performance, but also for Member States to establish, also, a long-term strategy, until the year 2020 –to reduce the level of CO2 emissions– and until the year 2050 –with the commitment to reduce the level of emissions by 80-95% in relation to 1990 levels–, aimed at mobilizing investments in the renovation of residential and commercial buildings, to improve the energy performance of the entire real estate stock. Through this strategy of exhaustive and profitable renovations that reduce the energy consumption of buildings, in significant percentages with respect to previous levels before renovation, opportunities for growth and employment in the construction sector will also be created. And even so, the percentage that rehabilitation represents in Spain in relation to total construction is also one of the lowest in the euro zone, being thirteen points below the European average, which reaches an environment of 41.7% of the construction sector, and that even with the collapse of said sector in Spain, as a consequence of the crisis. cve: BOE-A-2013-6938

OFFICIAL STATE GAZETTE
No. 153 Thursday, June 27, 2013 Sec. I. Page 47968 This activity, understood globally, is not only susceptible to addressing the objectives of energy efficiency and economic recovery already expressed, but also to actively contribute to environmental sustainability, social cohesion and the improvement of the quality of life of all citizens, both in housing and buildings, as well as in urban spaces. Not for nothing, many of the most important operations of regeneration and urban renewal have, in addition, an integrated character, that is, they articulate social, environmental and economic measures, which are added to the strictly physical ones to achieve, through a unitary strategy, the achievement of those objectives. In sum, the activity of rehabilitation as a whole must seek areas that allow applying integral policies that contemplate interventions not only in the physical-spatial scope, but also in the social, economic, environmental and integration scopes of the city. The size of these operations will allow the commissioning of energy installation networks on a neighborhood scale, with lower resource consumption, and which would allow neighborhoods to tend towards energy self-sufficiency in the medium term. III Without prejudice to the competences of the Autonomous Communities in matters of housing and urban planning, the State cannot remain on the sidelines of the reality of the Spanish real estate sector, and with it, our economy, nor of the social and environmental challenges posed, not only because part of the responses correspond to its competence scope, but also because many of the requirements demanded regarding a sustainable urban environment currently come from the European Union or from international commitments assumed by Spain. Among them, Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of December 16, 2002, subsequently consolidated in Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, of May 19, 2010, on the energy efficiency of buildings and Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, of October 25, 2012, on energy efficiency, to which may be added the Thematic Strategy for the Urban Environment, the European Reference Framework for the Sustainable City, or the Declaration of Toledo –approved by the Ministers responsible for urban development of the 27 Member States of the European Union on June 22, 2010–, according to which "the main battle of urban sustainability must be played precisely in the achievement of the maximum eco-efficiency possible in the urban fabrics of the already consolidated city", and in which the importance of integrated urban regeneration and its strategic potential for more intelligent, sustainable and socially inclusive urban development in Europe is highlighted. The regulation contained in this norm is framed in a context of economic crisis, whose exit depends to a large extent –given the weight of the real estate sector in said crisis–, on
the recovery and reactivation –especially regarding employment– of the construction sector. Such exit, in a context of impropriety of expansion policies, such as the generation of new cities and new housing, is only possible by acting on the existing real estate heritage and construction. It is also framed in the need to operate, in parallel, on the existing real estate heritage for the purposes of contributing to energy savings, with the relaunch of the materials industry, as well as that related to the remaining installations and facilities of construction and renewable energy technologies, to face not only the energy challenges of the Spanish economy –dependence on external primary energies and increase in costs and risks that such dependence implies–, but also the commitments acquired in the context of the European Union and its package of objectives in energy and climate change fighting for the year 2020. These commitments include intervention on the existing housing stock as a sector in which considerable energy savings are possible and in which one must also focus from the point of view of fighting climate change, induced by greenhouse gases. cve: BOE-A-2013-6938

OFFICIAL STATE GAZETTE
No. 153 Thursday, June 27, 2013 Sec. I. Page 47969 This norm constitutes basic legislation issued under the state competence to establish the bases and coordination of the general planning of economic activity, recognized in article 149.1.13th of the Constitution, and fixes, consequently, a "common denominator" of "nuclear character" that leaves sufficient margin to the Autonomous Communities for the exercise of their own competences. Additionally, and under the terms fixed in the nineteenth final provision, this Law is issued under the competence titles recognized in articles 149.1.1st, 8th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 23rd, 25th and 30th of the Constitution, which attributes to the State the competence on the regulation of the basic conditions that guarantee equality in the exercise of rights and in the fulfillment of constitutional duties, civil legislation, general treasury and state debt, bases and general coordination of health, bases of the legal regime of Public Administrations, common administrative procedure, legislation on forced expropriation and the system of responsibility of Public Administrations, basic legislation on environmental protection, bases of the energy regime and regulation of the conditions for obtaining, issuing and homologating academic and professional titles. Within this framework, the objectives pursued by this Law are the following:
First, to promote building rehabilitation and regeneration and urban renewal, eliminating existing obstacles and creating specific mechanisms that make it viable and possible.
Second, to offer an appropriate regulatory framework to allow the restructuring and reactivation of the construction sector, finding new areas of action, specifically, in building rehabilitation and in regeneration and urban renewal.
Third, to foster quality, sustainability and competitiveness, both in construction and in land, bringing our regulatory framework closer to the European framework, especially in relation to efficiency objectives, energy savings and fighting energy poverty.
For this purpose, in addition to the contents proper to the new Law, whose function lies basically in filling existing legal voids, it is necessary to face the modification of the following currently in force norms, both to eliminate those obstacles that prevent today reaching the proposed objectives, as well as to adapt the existing ones to the new ones: the consolidated text of the Land Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2008, of June 20, the Law 2/2011, of March 4, on Sustainable Economy, the Royal Decree-Law 8/2011, of July 1, on measures to support mortgage debtors, control of public spending and cancellation of debts with companies and self-employed contracted by local entities, promotion of business activity and boost to rehabilitation and administrative simplification, Law 38/1999, of November 5, on Building Order, Royal Decree 314/2006, of March 17, approving the Technical Building Code and Law 49/1960, of July 21, on Horizontal Property. In some punctual cases, the modification includes the repeal of certain provisions. The three objectives indicated in the previous paragraphs align with Directive 2010/31/EU, insofar as this Law seeks to promote energy efficiency and address the challenges caused by climate change. For this, the opportunity offered by the transformation of the productive model towards parameters of environmental, social and economic sustainability is recognized, with the creation of jobs linked to the environment, the so-called green jobs, specifically those linked to renewable energies and rehabilitation and energy savings policies. IV The Law is composed of a Preliminary Title, two Titles, four additional provisions, two transitory provisions, one repealing provision and twenty final provisions. cve: BOE-A-2013-6938

OFFICIAL STATE GAZETTE
No. 153 Thursday, June 27, 2013 Sec. I. Page 47970 The Preliminary Title of the Law describes its object, which consists of regulating the basic conditions that guarantee a sustainable and competitive development of the urban environment, as well as the boost and promotion of actions that lead to the rehabilitation of buildings and to the regeneration and renewal of existing urban fabrics, when they are necessary to ensure citizens quality of life and the effectiveness of their right to enjoy a dignified and adequate housing. The Preliminary Title, likewise, refers to the policies that public authorities, within the scope of their competences, must formulate and develop, within the framework of the principles of economic, social and environmental sustainability, territorial cohesion, energy efficiency and complex...