The short version
| Situation | Maximum annual update |
|---|---|
| No update clause in the contract | None — the rent stays the same |
| Signed before 26 May 2023, update in 2025 or 2026 | The contract’s index, usually IPC |
| Signed from 26 May 2023, update from 2025 | The contract’s index, capped at the IRAV |
| Any home lease, update 22 Mar – 28 Apr 2026 | 2% (RDL 8/2026) |
| Any home lease, update in 2024 | 3% |
| Any home lease, update 31 Mar 2022 – 31 Dec 2023 | 2% (IGC) |
| Seasonal, room or commercial lease | Whatever the contract says |
1. No clause, no increase
Article 18.1 of the Urban Leases Law (LAU) allows the rent to be updated on each anniversary of the contract “in the terms agreed by the parties”, and adds: “En defecto de pacto expreso, no se aplicará actualización de rentas”. If your contract says nothing about updating the rent, it cannot go up until the contract and its extensions end.
2. Contracts signed before 26 May 2023
These follow their own clause. Most say the rent is updated by the IPC, the consumer price index published monthly by INE. From 2025 there is no general cap on these contracts, so with IPC at 4.3% in August 2026, an update using that figure can legally be 4.3%.
3. Contracts signed from 26 May 2023: the IRAV limit
The Housing Law (Ley 12/2023) added an eleventh additional provision to the LAU asking INE to create a reference index that acts as the ceiling for annual updates. INE published it as the IRAV, starting with November 2024. For home leases signed on or after 26 May 2023, the annual update from 1 January 2025 can never exceed the IRAV, even if the contract says IPC. If the contract’s index is lower, the lower figure applies. See every monthly IRAV figure.
4. The emergency caps
- 31 March 2022 – 31 December 2023: 2%. RDL 6/2022, article 46 (extended by RDL 11/2022 and RDL 20/2022) limited updates to the change in the Competitiveness Guarantee Index (IGC), 2%. A landlord who was not a large holder could agree a different increase with the tenant; without that agreement, 2% applied.
- Updates in 2024: 3% for every home lease, under article 46 of RDL 6/2022 as amended by Ley 12/2023.
- 22 March – 28 April 2026: 2%. RDL 8/2026 capped updates at 2% from 22 March 2026. Congress rejected the decree on 28 April 2026 (derogation published in the BOE on 30 April), so the cap no longer applies — but updates that fell while it was in force keep the 2% limit.
5. A clause that names no index
If the contract agrees to update the rent but doesn’t say how, then for contracts signed from 6 March 2019 the Competitiveness Guarantee Index (IGC) applies, and the result may not exceed the IPC (LAU art. 18.1 as worded by RDL 7/2019). The IGC is capped at 2% by design. For contracts signed between 6 June 2013 and 5 March 2019, such a clause is read as the IPC.
6. Seasonal, room and commercial leases
Seasonal and temporary leases (for work, study or holidays) and commercial leases are “uses other than housing” under LAU article 3; renting a room in a shared home is generally governed by the Civil Code. The contract decides the update, and neither the IRAV limit nor the emergency caps apply.
7. When the new rent becomes payable
The updated rent is payable from the month after the landlord notifies it in writing, stating the percentage applied (LAU art. 18.2). The tenant can ask for the INE certificate for the index used. The landlord can also write the update on the previous month’s rent receipt. A notice sent on 20 October makes the new rent payable from November.
8. If the increase is too high
Reply in writing, stating the legal maximum and the reason, and keep proof of delivery — the letter generator drafts this in Spanish and English. Your town’s consumer office (OMIC) or regional housing department can also help, and a lawyer can advise if a large amount is at stake.
9. What this guide doesn’t cover
Rent caps on new contracts in stressed residential areas (zonas de mercado residencial tensionado) are a separate rule about the initial rent, not annual updates. Contracts signed before 6 June 2013 were governed by older wording of the LAU and deserve professional advice.