For several years, how much a landlord could increase rent by depended heavily on whether the property was inside a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) or not. From 1 March 2026, that distinction is gone. A single nationwide rent control system now applies to effectively all private tenancies and student-specific accommodation, regardless of location.
The standard rule: 2% or inflation, whichever is lower
For most tenancies, a rent increase can't exceed the lower of 2% or the current rate of CPI inflation, and rent can only be reviewed once every 12 months at minimum. In practice, this means:
- If CPI inflation is running above 2% (as it has been through much of 2025–2026), the cap is 2%.
- If CPI inflation drops below 2%, the cap follows inflation down — landlords can't default to 2% regardless of inflation.
This is a meaningful tightening compared to the old RPZ rules in periods of high inflation, and it now applies everywhere, not just in the roughly 80% of tenancies that used to be inside an RPZ.
The new-build exception
New-build apartments and student-specific accommodation where construction commenced on or after 10 June 2025 are treated differently: their rent increases are capped at CPI only, with no 2% ceiling. The policy reasoning is to avoid discouraging new rental supply by capping new-build rents below where the standard formula would otherwise allow if inflation runs high — though in low-inflation periods this exception can actually mean a lower cap than the standard 2% rule, since there's no 2% floor to fall back on either.
Whether a given apartment qualifies for this exception comes down to the construction start date, which isn't something a renter or landlord can self-certify casually — if it's contested, the RTB's published guidance and registration records are the reference point.
Market rent resets: the narrow exception
The old system allowed rents to reset to "market rent" between tenancies in non-RPZ areas, and in limited circumstances inside RPZs. Under the new nationwide rules, a market-rent reset is only permitted in narrow, specific circumstances set out in the legislation — and critically, it isn't calculated as a percentage at all. Instead, a landlord relying on a market-rent reset must evidence the new rent using comparable lettings from the RTB's Rent Register, not just an estimate of what the market might bear.
Because this isn't a formula-based calculation, our Rent Increase calculator treats a market-rent reset as an informational toggle rather than computing a number for it — if this might apply to your tenancy, the RTB Rent Register and a direct read of the current legislation are the right next step, not a percentage calculator.
What this means in practice
For the large majority of tenancies — anyone not in a newly-constructed building and not in one of the narrow reset scenarios — the calculation is genuinely simple: take the current rent, apply whichever is lower of 2% or the latest published CPI figure, and that's the maximum legal increase, provided at least 12 months have passed since the last review.
Our Rent Increase calculator runs this calculation directly against the latest published CPI figure, and flags the new-build exception and market-reset scenario so you know when the standard formula doesn't apply to your situation.
Frequently asked questions
Do Rent Pressure Zones still exist? Not as a distinct legal category from 1 March 2026 — the nationwide system replaced the RPZ-vs-non-RPZ distinction entirely, applying the same 2%-or-CPI cap everywhere.
How often can my rent be reviewed? No more than once every 12 months under the standard rules, regardless of how the previous increase was calculated.
What CPI figure should I use? The most recently published Consumer Price Index annual rate from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) at the time of the rent review — our calculator is kept updated with the latest published figure.
Does this apply to all rented accommodation? It applies to effectively all private residential tenancies and student-specific accommodation. A small number of tenancy types have separate rules (for example, certain licensee arrangements) — if you're unsure whether your tenancy is covered, the RTB is the authoritative source.