GLOPRAGlobal Property Radar

Spain rent cap for existing leases set at 2.54% in September 2026

Spain's reference index for updating housing rents reached 2.54% in September 2026, the ceiling on what a landlord may add to a running lease.

The facts

  • The National Statistics Institute set the housing rental reference index, the IRAV, at +2.54% for September 2026, published on 14 October 2026.
  • The recent path was 2.48% in May, 2.44% in June, 2.49% in July and 2.47% in August; no month in the published series is higher.
  • The published series begins at 2.15% in July 2025 and stood at 2.14% in January 2026.
  • It is issued as an annual rate to two decimals only, with no index level and no press release.
  • Contracts signed after 26 May 2023 are updated on the IRAV, under the 1994 urban leases law.

What it means for your money

  • A landlord may add 2.54% at renewal, up from August's 2.47%. The cap trails what a new letting fetches.
  • The build matters more than one month's reading: the law takes the lower of headline and core inflation, then moves that result halfway to 2%, the European Central Bank's medium-term target. Income on an inherited lease stays near 2%.
  • The figure to weigh against it is the asking rent: 15.1 euros per square metre a month nationally in August 2026, beside an asking price of 2,924 euros per square metre. Only renewals are capped.

What to watch

  • The institute publishes the index monthly, on the dates of its consumer price calendar.
  • The cap applies to the annual update of a running contract, not to a new letting or to asking rents.
  • The two rates feeding the formula can move the ceiling either way, as the dip from 2.49% in July to 2.47% in August showed.

Sources: National Statistics Institute of Spain, Indice de Referencia de Arrendamientos de Vivienda, September 2026, published 14 October 2026 https://www.ine.es/uc/oC7D0Ncd; Boletin Oficial del Estado, Resolucion of 19 December 2024 defining the index, BOE-A-2024-26685 https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2024-26685

Market data: Almeria · Murcia (Costa Calida) · Spain · Las Palmas