22.6% of users surveyed by the CIS last October chose access to housing as their greatest concern, above unemployment (22%) and the country’s political problems (18%). In 2025, with the aim of capping the price of rent, the Spanish government has approved a new reference index to update the contracts to tenants.
The Housing Lease Reference Index (IRAV) is calculated by adding the annual variation of the CPI, underlying inflation and the average variation of the last two. The National Statistics Institute (INE) provides the result of the formula, which from now on will be used as a maximum limit to avoid a disproportionate increase in the price of rents.
Landlords will be able to raise rents by 2.2%.
Until now, the percentage used as a reference was the CPI. Today, the IRAV is at 2.20%, six tenths below the variation of the CPI, which rose four tenths in December (from 2.4% to 2.8%).
Not all owners must look at the IRAV. The rule will only apply to contracts signed on or after May 25, 2023, the date on which the Housing Law came into force. Those signed prior to that date may continue to use the CPI as a reference.
Disparity of expert opinions
Eight days after being published on the INE website, the IRAV has supporters and detractors. While Juan Carlos Martínez, professor of economics at the Instituto de Empresa, explains to RTVE that “the increase in the price of rent will be lower than it would have been if the traditional index had been used”, there are experts who point out the negative consequences of its use.
José María Basáñez, president of the Tecnitasa Group, stated in an interview for Invertia that “the legal uncertainty caused 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”.