The issue of updating rent can generate many doubts among landlords and tenants, especially when several years have passed without any increase being applied. A lawyer has clarified when this accumulated update can be claimed and what conditions must be met to do so correctly.
“"If you have gone several years without raising the rent for your tenants, you can raise all those years at once, with a maximum of 5 years."
However, the expert warns that merely wanting to do so is not enough: there must be a specific clause in the contract that allows for rent updates. If the contract does not include this clause, the landlord cannot raise the rent “even one euro more” than what was agreed upon signing. That is, if the initial rent was 800 euros and there is no update clause, that amount remains until the contract ends.
Another important point is the index that can be applied. If the contract predates May 26, 2023, the usual limit is the IPC (Consumer Price Index). In contrast, if the contract is subsequent to that date, the new reference index for rents applies. Furthermore, it is recalled that during 2022, 2023, and 2024, the Government set special caps on rent increases. In 2022 and 2023, the maximum was 2%, while in 2024 it was 3%. Therefore, even if the IPC was higher, that legal limit could not be exceeded.
The IPC is applied cumulatively: first, the initial rent is updated with the IPC of the first year, and then, the result is applied the IPC of the second year, and so on. The IPC published on the contract signing date must be used as a reference. As this data is usually published in the middle of the following month, it may correspond to two months prior. The new rent cannot be charged immediately but will be enforceable from the month following the landlord's communication.
The right to update the rent arises in each annuity of the contract. Therefore, if a rental began in September 2022, pending increases can be claimed when due, but the 2026 update cannot be applied until September of that year. The update of delayed rental income is possible, but only if the contract allows it, if legal limits are respected, and if it is correctly communicated to the tenant.
