Chile’s Comptroller Clears Housing Decree for More Apartments per Building
CHILE · HOUSING
Key Facts
- —The country Chile is a nation of about 20 million people, where the cost of housing is a long-running political issue. The Santiago region holds about four in ten Chileans.
- —The background Local zoning plans cap how many people may live on each hectare. To turn that cap into a number of homes, the national building code assumes four residents per home.
- —Why now President José Antonio Kast’s government wants to cut property prices and revive construction. Housing Minister Iván Poduje sent a decree changing the national building code in July.
- —What happened On 1 October the Comptroller General, Dorothy Pérez, approved Decree 68 of 2026 after the ministry corrected points her office had objected to.
- —The numbers Under set conditions, the code may now assume 1.4 residents per home instead of four. In theory, that allows up to about 2.9 times as many homes under the same density cap.
- —What it means for you Buyers could see more, smaller flats in new buildings, with fewer parking spaces. Projects already approved or with permits in process cannot use the new rules, a property lawyer says.
- —Still open How many developers will use the change, and whether it lowers prices. The decree takes effect when published in the official gazette, expected next week.
Chile’s Comptroller General has cleared a Housing Ministry decree that lets developers build more apartments in the same building. The change rewrites how the national building code turns density limits into numbers of homes.
Mayors had fought the decree, warning it could produce “vertical ghettos” of tiny flats. The Comptroller approved it on 1 October with some caveats, after the ministry dropped or narrowed several provisions.
How the density rule works
Chile’s local zoning plans set a maximum density, measured in residents per hectare.
The national building code, known as the OGUC, then divides that figure by an assumed household size. The result is the number of homes allowed.
For years that divisor has been four people per home. The ministry first wanted to replace it with 1.4 or 2, depending on the case.
The Comptroller’s office said it saw no justification for that replacement.
The ministry then dropped the coefficient of two and kept 1.4 only under certain conditions. Its use is no longer tied to sites within 600 metres of certain public transport stops, and criteria linked to expressways and trunk roads were added.
Cutting the divisor from four to 1.4 means the same density cap allows almost three times as many homes. Height limits and other building rules still apply, so the real gain per project will be smaller.
What else changed
The decree lowers the minimum number of parking spaces for some housing and service projects.
A 2022 law requires at least one space per home in public-interest housing condominiums, the Comptroller recalled. Those projects were left out.
Large combined projects on 5,000 square metres or more now need an access road with a carriageway at least 14 metres wide. The ministry also dropped a plan to let its regional housing service replace road-impact studies with its own mobility reports.
The Comptroller had noted that the law gives that power to transport authorities. Reconstruction projects after disasters must still respect risk zones and heritage protections.
A fight with the mayors
The ministry first submitted the decree on 27 July and withdrew it on 7 September to address objections. It resubmitted it on 16 September.
Mayors protested that it came back without talks with them.
“The changes to the OGUC are going to hit the management of Chile’s municipalities directly,” said Gustavo Alessandri in September. He heads the Chilean Association of Municipalities.
Mayors objected above all to the changes on density, parking and large combined projects.
The Comptroller did not rule on those concerns. Its review covers legality only, and approval “cannot imply a pronouncement” on the merit or convenience of the decision, Pérez wrote.
What comes next
The decree takes effect once it is published in the Diario Oficial, the official gazette, which La Tercera expects next week. Rodrigo Andreucci, a property lawyer, told Diario Financiero that projects already in the pipeline cannot switch to the new rules.
The government argues that more homes per plot will help bring down prices. That outcome is not guaranteed, because land costs, interest rates and demand also set prices.
Nor does the decree mean towers will suddenly multiply.
It changes one part of the arithmetic. The local zoning plans that set density and height remain in the hands of each municipality.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Chile’s Comptroller approve?
On 1 October 2026 the Comptroller General cleared Decree 68 of the Housing Ministry, which changes Chile’s national building code. It allows more homes per building under certain conditions and fewer parking spaces for some projects.
What are “vertical ghettos”?
It is the term Chilean critics use for very tall, dense blocks of small flats with few services, such as those built in the Santiago district of Estación Central in the 2010s. Mayors fear the decree could encourage more of them.
When does the new rule take effect?
When it is published in the Diario Oficial, Chile’s official gazette. La Tercera reported that publication is expected the week after the 1 October approval.
Will apartments in Chile get cheaper?
The government hopes so, but it is not certain. Prices also depend on land costs, interest rates and demand.
Sources: The Clinic, 1 October 2026, La Tercera, 1 October 2026, Diario Financiero, 1 October 2026. All retrieved 2 October 2026. Background: The Rio Times on Chile’s housing reform and the Fonavi mortgage fund.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error
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