Proposed amendment to the architecture act: new environmental sanctions, housing-loan relief, and an EU compliance fix

On 1 September 2026, the Hungarian government submitted a bill to the Hungarian Parliament to amend the Construction Act. The bill pursues three distinct policy goals that will be of interest to investors, developers and construction-sector suppliers operating in Hungary.

First, ongoing and future "priority-significance" (kiemelt jelentőségű) investments (i.e. the fast-tracked government designation used for major infrastructure and real estate projects) will face a change as the new rules introduce, that an environmental or nature-conservation authority must immediately notify the building authority whenever it opens proceedings against a priority project for breaching environmental or nature-conservation rules. The building authority then must suspend its own permitting procedure until the environmental or nature-conservation decision becomes final. Where that decision confirms a violation, the government may further provide that no building permit may be issued until the unlawful condition is remedied.

Second, the bill addresses the government's "fix 3%" subsidised mortgage scheme and the associated “Otthon start program”, since the government is still finalising a new, broader housing program. The legislation states that building permits for buildings linked to these designated private priority investments may not be issued before 1 January 2027.

Third, the bill implements a November 2025 judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case c-499/23, Commission v. Hungary, which found that Hungary's registration regime for the export of "strategically important" construction raw materials and products breached EU rules.