He rental market in Spain presents, day after day, a continued increase in prices. In the last year alone, according to the year-end report published by Idealista, rental prices rose by 11.5% in 2024, a new high for our country. Faced with these increases, fear fills tenants with doubts.
How high will this rent increase go? ¿How much can my landlord raise my rent?? Are there limits established by law for these increases? These are some of the questions that arise, and although there is no crystal ball to predict the future of prices, there are some mechanisms that protect tenants.
An example of them is the tool launched last Thursday by the Ministry of Housing, the calculator to find out how much your rent can be raised in 2025. The goal? According to the ministry, offer transparency in updating the maximum rent that corresponds to rental contracts, according to current legislation.
How does the calculator work?
First of all, Dwelling Ask the tenant the date they signed their contract. If you have rented before May 24, 2023 – before the entry into force of the Law for the Right to Housing–, the annuity will be revalued using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Competitiveness Guarantee Index (IGC), as indicated in the contract. In this case, the Ministry reports, the CPI stood at 2.40% year-on-year variation in November 2024. On the other hand, if it were done using the IGC, it could not increase more than 2.00%, since it is limited to this percentage.
However, if the tenant has signed after that date, the law applies and the rent will increase based on the Reference Index for the Update of Housing Leases (IRAV). An index that, as already published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), sets the maximum increase at 2.20%.
Once the date of signing the contract has been indicated, Housing requests the monthly rental payment. And voilà, the tool calculates the maximum increase for the tenant in accordance with article 18 of the Urban Leasing Law (LAU).
How much will the fees increase on average?
For example, for a rent of 1,000 euros per monthif the tenant had signed before the law came into force, they could see a maximum increase in their fee of 24 euros. That is, you would pay 1,024 euros per month or 12,288 euros per year.
On the other hand, if the tenant had signed after May 24, 2023, their fee would increase by 22 euros, paying their landlord 1,022 euros per month, 12,264 euros per year.