Amongst the measures to be approved today by the Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has included limiting rent rises to 2%. This is against a backdrop of when, in February for example, the CPI rose by 7.6%, according to the INE.
This will be a temporary measure, in principle in force until June, and will differentiate between large and small landlords. If the landlord is a “large landlord” (defined in all pandemic legislation as having more than 10 urban properties, excluding garages and storage rooms) the 2% limit will be a legal imperative. If he is not a large landlord, there will be the possibility of agreement to the contrary between the parties. However, in the absence of such an agreement, the same limit will apply.
From the moment the decree comes into force (which is expected this week) and until 30 June, all tenants facing a monthly rent update will be able to take advantage of the measure.
In Spain there are approximately 3.5 million tenants. If the contracts were spread evenly over all months of the year that would mean that a quarter of them would have to update their rent from April to June. In other words, the number of contracts to which the new limitation would potentially apply would be close to 900,000.
