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The National Assembly of People's Power published the draft of the new Housing Law, a document consisting of 91 pages and 190 articles that expands the powers of the State to intervene, control, and reclaim properties in the hands of private individuals.
The most significant change is in Article 141, which establishes that if a property falls into disrepair due to abandonment and the owner does not take steps to recover it, the Municipal Housing Directorate may request the competent court "the loss of rights due to abandonment and its availability in favor of the Municipal Administration Council for subsequent allocation."
In this regard, Article 18 complements this mechanism by assigning the Municipal Housing Directorate the task of keeping an updated inventory of buildings in a state of ruin and informing the Municipal Administration Council for their inclusion in investment plans.
If Territorial Planning determines the ruin of a building, the municipal housing director can notify the occupants of the deadline by which they are required to vacate it and their relocation, "if applicable."
The provision takes on special significance in the context of mass emigration: between October 2021 and September 2024, more than 600,000 Cubans crossed into the United States, leaving behind thousands of abandoned or deteriorating homes.
Article 139 goes even further: it mandates that all owners recover the use value of permanently uninhabited housing, "even when they are not declared in a state of ruin," if they exhibit structural deterioration or negatively impact the surrounding environment.
The same article requires that the absent holder appoint a representative to act on their behalf in emergencies, administrative processes, or judicial matters, which in practice imposes an additional bureaucratic burden on those living outside the country.
Another change in weight affects those receiving state-subsidized housing: according to articles 53 to 56, they will be prohibited from selling, donating, or exchanging the property for the first 15 years from the allocation, and if they do, they must repay the total subsidized amount to the state budget.
These restrictions would not merely serve as an administrative warning: Article 57 stipulates that the right of first refusal and retraction, as well as the obligations set forth for subsidized housing, must be included in the constitutive title and registered in the Central Property Registry of Real Estate.
In multifamily buildings, the project establishes administrative boards made up of all the owners, with the authority to set mandatory monthly fees for common expenses.
The article 157 states that "the agreements adopted by the Board of Directors are binding for all shareholders," with no possibility of exemption from payment.
The project also requires property owners to keep the outdoor areas in front of their properties clean and well-maintained, between the sidewalk and the curb, and reaffirms the limit of two residences per individual, plus one for rest or vacation.
Additionally, Article 67 adds another limitation: owning a home does not prevent one from receiving another through state allocation, but the beneficiary of that right must surrender the home they owned up to that point to the State, with reciprocal compensation if there are price differences.
The text repeals the General Housing Law No. 65 of 1988 and nine modifying decrees issued between 1998 and 2018, and bears the signatures of Juan Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly, and Miguel Díaz-Canel, although the approval dates are left blank, confirming that it is still a draft in process.
The project was submitted for public consultation until February 28, 2026 and the National Assembly is expected to approve it before the end of the year.
The context in which this law arrives is one of severe housing crisis: the deficit exceeds 929,000 homes, 35% of the housing stock is in fair or poor condition, and in 2025 only 22% of the annual construction plan was completed, with merely 2,382 homes finished out of the 10,795 planned.
The project also empowers municipal Administration councils, through the Housing departments, to purchase homes from individuals for residential purposes to address established priorities, and to acquire rights over properties under construction, according to Articles 91 and 92.
Once approved, the law will come into effect 90 days after its publication in the Official Gazette, during which time the Council of Ministers must also issue its regulations.
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