How much can the rent on an old-style protected tenancy (“renta antigua”) go up?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

Old-style protected tenancies are residential tenancies signed before 9 May 1985. Their rent does not follow the rules for current tenancies, but those laid down for them by the 1994 “Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos” (LAU), Spain's urban tenancies act. Since 1995 the landlord has been able to request a special update, which brings the rent closer to what it would have risen to in line with the consumer price index (CPI) since signature and is charged in instalments, over five or ten years depending on the tenant's income. Once that update has been made, or if it did not apply because of that income, the rent can be increased every year in line with the CPI. Whether the October 2026 decree also limits these increases is, for the moment, debatable. The special update The landlord must request it by a means that provides reliable proof, such as a “burofax” (a certified letter with proof of content), on an anniversary of the tenancy. The law set no deadline for it, so, if the landlord never requested it, in principle it can still be done. The new rent is the initial rent updated in line with the CPI since signature, with a cap linked to the cadastral value of the home. It is charged in instalments. If the income of the tenant's household does not exceed 5,5 times the minimum wage, over ten years. If it does, over five. It does not apply if that income does not exceed 2,5, 3 or 3,5 times the minimum wage, depending on whether one or two people, three or four, or more than four live in the home. The tenant can object within the following thirty days. The rent then only rises each year in line with the CPI, but the tenancy ends eight years after the request. The yearly increase Once the special update has been completed, the rent can be updated every year by the change in the CPI over the previous twelve months, unless the agreement sets a different system. The same applies when the special update did not apply because of the tenant's income. Each year the new rent must be notified in writing, together with the certificate from the “INE”, Spain's national statistics institute. Since 8 October 2026, increases under tenancies signed before May 2023 cannot exceed the IRAV, the index that the INE publishes to cap these increases. Until 31 December 2027, they cannot exceed 2 % either without a new agreement. Whether those caps extend to old-style protected tenancies, which are governed by the 1964 act as amended by the 1994 LAU, is debatable. Each case should be reviewed. What can be charged in addition to the rent The IBI, the local property tax on the home, in full. If the bill is for the whole building, it is shared out according to the floor area of each flat. The 1994 LAU expressly allows this for these tenancies. The October 2026 decree, which prohibits passing taxes on to the tenant, has not changed that rule, although it cannot be ruled out that this will be disputed. The cost of services and utilities, unless it was agreed that the landlord would pay them. Part of the cost of certain repair works, those requested by the tenant or ordered by a final decision. It is charged gradually and subject to an annual limit.