Access to housing is already, according to last October’s CIS survey, the greatest concern of Spaniards, with 22.6% of those surveyed placing this issue in first place, above unemployment (22%) or the country’s political problems (18%). If you are reading this, you are probably in the first group, and you are worried about what will happen to your rent in the new year 2025.
As a palliatory measure (but by no means definitive) to curb this price increase, the Government has now approved a new reference index to update tenants’ contracts, the Housing Lease Reference Index (IRAV).
This index calculates, according to INE data,the annual variation of the CPI, underlying inflation and the average variation of the last two. This formula yields a price that will be used as a ceiling to avoid an excessive increase in the price of rents.
How to consult the Housing Lease Reference Index?
This new index is like a traffic light for landlords. Right now it is green, at 2.20%. This means that landlords will be able to raise the rent, but only up to that percentage.
However, this indicator only affects contracts signed after May 25, 2023. If the contract is prior, the price is not subject to this rule and they can continue to use the CPI as a reference.
The new measure has both supporters and detractors. Juan Carlos Martínez, from the Instituto de Empresa, stated, in RTVE declarations, that “the increase in the rental price will be lower than it would have been if the traditional index had been used”.
For his part, José María Basáñez, president of the Tecnitasa Group, said in an interview for Invertia that “the legal uncertainty brought about by the new Housing Law is discouraging many owners from renting their properties”, and therefore “the final economic effect will be precisely the opposite of what was intended”.