When does the landlord have the right to increase the rent?

Your landlord has just informed you that your rent is increasing. What should you think: does he have the right to reassess the amount of your rent during the lease? How much can the rent increase at most? Do you have the right to contest this increase? Studapart answers all your questions!

Can the landlord increase the rent?

Indeed, there are situations in which your landlord has the right to increase the amount of your rent after the signing of the lease agreement.

That being said, the reasons and amount of the increase are strictly regulated by law:

• If your lease agreement does not include an annual revision clause: your landlord does not have the right to increase your rent during the lease.
• For lease agreements signed from August 24, 2022: if the energy label of your accommodation is F or G, your landlord does not have the right to increase your rent, even in case of lease renewal or change of tenant.

When is the landlord allowed to increase rent? The 3 authorized cases

Only three situations can justify the increase of your rent by your landlord: the application of the revision clause, the increase in the context of the lease renewal, and the realization of improvement work in your accommodation.

The Annual Revision

If, and only if, your lease agreement has a revision clause, your landlord can increase your rent once a year.

The date on which the rent can be increased corresponds to the one provided in the lease agreement. If no date is specified, the date of signing the lease agreement will be used.

Without this revision clause, your landlord cannot modify the amount of your rent for the entire duration of the lease.

In case of improvement work

Some rental agreements may provide that the completion of improvement work leads to an exceptional increase in rent (article 17 E of the July 6, 1989 law). For this:

• The work must improve the existing services of the accommodation, reduce maintenance expenses, and/or provide a real improvement in the tenant's comfort: for example, installation of a fitted kitchen or laying of new flooring.
• The work in question is entirely the responsibility of the landlord and must represent a cost of at least half of the annual rent of the last year of rent.
• Simple maintenance work is not sufficient to justify an increase in rent.

The amount of the increase must necessarily be agreed upon with the tenant and will be applicable as soon as the work is completed.

An amendment to the rental agreement will then be signed, specifying the amount of the new rent and its date of application.

The lease renewal

At the time of lease renewal or in the event of relocation (change of tenant), the landlord may also modify the amount of rent:

• If the landlord considers that their rent is undervalued compared to market prices, 
• particularly while respecting the limit of the increase of the IRL (Rent Reference Index) and the rent control for tight zones.

To be able to increase the rent, your landlord must send you a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt proposing a revision at least 6 months before the end of your current lease:

• In this proposed revision, the landlord must specify the new amount of the rent they are considering.
• If you accept the new rent, you must inform your landlord within 2 months. Otherwise, the conciliation commission will be contacted to resolve the disagreement.

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How is the rent increase calculated?

The calculation of a rent increase is based on the Rent Reference Index (IRL):

• This indicator, set every quarter by INSEE, is based on the average of the consumer price index (excluding tobacco and rent) for the last 12 months. 
• When a landlord wants to increase the amount of their rent, they cannot exceed the variation of the IRL.

To calculate your rent increase, you must know the following elements:

• The amount of your current rent.
• The new IRL for the reference quarter: in principle, the reference date to look at is indicated in the lease. If that is not the case, the date of the last IRL published by INSEE at the time you signed the lease will be used.
• The IRL of the same quarter from the previous year.

The amount of the increase will correspond to the amount of your current rent multiplied by the variation between the reference IRL and that of the same quarter from the previous year.

Reminder: as long as the rent cap is in place, the rent cannot increase by more than 3.5%.

Anil provides on its website a simulator to easily calculate the increase of your rent.

Your landlord is not complying with rent control? We explain what you can do.