If my landlord has not put my rent up for years, can I now be charged the backdated increases?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

No, because the annual increase can only be charged from the month after the landlord gives written notice of it, stating the percentage applied. The “Tribunal Supremo”, Spain's Supreme Court, has been saying for decades that the update has no effect on the years before that notification. It reiterated this in a judgment of December 2025. What the landlord can do is raise the rent from now on, on the next anniversary of the tenancy and within today's limits. It is a different matter if the landlord notified you of the increase at the time and you did not pay it, because then it is a debt. Why increases cannot be backdated The law says that the updated rent can be charged from the month following the notification. The Supreme Court explains that the update takes effect from when it is notified and received by the other party, not from when it could have been made. This prevents the landlord from quietly building up several years of increases and claiming them all at once. The rule works the same way in reverse. If the index falls and it is the tenant who asks for a reduction, the tenant will only pay less from the month after giving notice. What the Supreme Court said in December 2025 The case concerned the lease of commercial premises occupied by a bank branch, with a review of the rent to market value agreed in the contract. The tenant bank gave notice of the review, which lowered the rent, in good time. The landlord denied that the agreement existed. The “Audiencia Provincial”, the provincial appeal court, found for the tenant on the main issue, but applied the new rent only from its own judgment, three years after the agreed date. The Supreme Court corrected this. The rule that an update has no retrospective effect does not allow the party that receives the notification and denies the agreement to delay its effects until the judgment. The judgment does not create the agreement but merely declares that it existed. That is why the revised rent applied from the agreed date and the landlord had to repay the amount overcharged, with interest. Although the case concerned commercial premises, the reasoning on dates applies generally. What can happen The landlord can raise the rent from now on, on the next anniversary, if the agreement provides for updating. Each annual increase is capped at the IRAV, the index that the “INE”, Spain's national statistics institute, publishes for these increases. In addition, until 31 December 2027 it cannot exceed 2 % unless a new agreement is reached. That is why applying several years' increases in one go is, at the very least, debatable. If the landlord notified you of the increase in writing at the time and you did not pay it, the difference is a debt. In Catalonia, a claim for rent becomes time-barred, that is, it is lost through the passage of time, after three years. Under the Spanish Civil Code (“Código civil”), after five. Before suing, the law requires an attempt at negotiation. If you do not agree with what you are being asked to pay, do not stop paying the monthly rent. If you pay something you dispute, put it on record in writing, reserving the right to claim it back. That way you avoid eviction for non-payment.