Rent capping: how European neighbours are attempting to curb price hikes

Despite measures taken by several governments, rent prices continue to rise in Europe. In the second quarter of 2026, they showed an increase of 3% year-on-year in the European Union, according to Eurostat. In France, the increase reached 1.6% over one year in July, according to INSEE, for main residences rented empty.

So, to prevent rents from soaring, each country has its own method. Also read: Report "The customer is fighting for financing": with credit conditions tightening and property prices still high, the property market is slowing down The Germans apply the "Mietpreisbremse", literally the brake on rents. Introduced in 2015, this mechanism applies in areas where the real estate market is particularly tight.

When a new lease is signed, the owner cannot, in principle, set a rent more than 10% higher than that of comparable accommodation in the area. Concretely, if the reference rent is 800 euros, the owner generally cannot claim more than 880 euros. However, there are exceptions, particularly for certain new or recently renovated housing.

The system has been extended until 2029. In the Netherlands, apartments are rated, in Spain, extended contracts. The Dutch have chosen a different method: assigning points to accommodation. Surface area, equipment, quality of insulation, energy performance...

Each characteristic is included in the calculation. The more points an apartment obtains, the higher its owner can charge a rent. But there is a ceiling.

The intermediate segment management system concerns accommodations with up to 186 points. Beyond that, they come under the free rental sector. This regulation was extended two years ago.

The Dutch government estimated that this reform could ultimately lead to a reduction in the rent of around 300,000 homes, by 190 euros per month on average. In Spain, where the housing crisis regularly fuels demonstrations, the government presented new measures in October to limit rent increases. Among them, the possibility for certain tenants up to date with their payments to extend their lease for up to two additional years.

The government also plans to limit certain annual increases to 2% when the rent remains below the reference price and no different agreement is concluded. In France, regulated rents France also has rent controls, implemented in Paris in 2019, then extended to other territories. Lille, Lyon, Villeurbanne, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Grenoble, but also several municipalities in Seine-Saint-Denis and the Basque Country now apply this regulation.

In total, 70 municipalities spread across nine territories are concerned, according to the Senate. The principle is to set, for each category of housing and each geographical sector, a reference rent. The owner generally cannot exceed the reference rent increased by 20%, unless the rent is duly justified.

Machine-translated from French