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The new Housing Law Project published by the National Assembly of People's Power affirms that an individual can own a maximum of two residential properties, plus one declared as a vacation or leisure home in the constitutive title.
The limit is not new. Decree-Law 288 from October 2011, which authorized the buying and selling of homes between individuals, had already established that cap in practice. What the new project does is elevate that restriction to formal law without expanding the rights of property owners.
Article 4.1 of the draft states verbatim: "The right of individuals to own up to two properties is recognized, without prejudice to what they own regarding their vacation or leisure home, as declared in the constitutive title."
The text adds a control mechanism: if it is found that someone owns more than two properties, the director of the Municipal Housing Directorate can open a file and order the forfeiture of the property acquired in violation.
The project, which would replace the General Housing Law of 1988 and its nine modifying decrees, also introduces other obligations that represent concrete changes for property owners.
Article 141 empowers the State to recover abandoned homes. If a property falls into disrepair due to abandonment and the owner fails to act, the Municipal Housing Directorate may petition the court for "the loss of rights due to abandonment and its availability in favor of the Municipal Administrative Council for subsequent allocation."
This provision takes on special significance in the context of mass emigration. More than 860,000 Cubans arrived in the United States between 2021 and mid-2024, and Cuba lost over 300,000 residents in just 2024, leaving many properties abandoned or without maintenance.
The project also establishes management boards in multifamily buildings with the authority to set mandatory monthly fees for common expenses, whose agreements will be binding for all owners.
Beneficiaries of subsidized housing will face restrictions for 15 years when selling, donating, or exchanging their properties; if they do so, they will have to repay the total subsidized amount to the State Budget.
The text was published on the Cuban Parliament's website in June 2026, with blanks for the approval date and the law number, indicating it has not yet been voted on in a plenary session. Once approved, the housing deficit exceeding 805,583 homes will continue to be the backdrop for a law that expands state control over properties without addressing the structural shortage faced by the Cuban people.
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