Malta Rent Increase Calculator

For a registered private residential lease with a sitting tenant, the Private Residential Leases Act sets four rules that all apply at once:

• Once a year, at most. Rent increases may only take place once every year Cap. 604·Art. 14(1), and during the first year the rent stays fixed.
• Mid-lease needs a clause. Without an express rent-revision agreement in the contract, the rent cannot be revised during the term at all - your first opportunity is the renewal.
• The index sets the limit. A yearly increase may not exceed the annual variation of the NSO Property Price Index, understood as the average of the previous four quarters recorded until the date of the increase Cap. 604·Art. 14(2).
• 5% is the ceiling. Whatever the index says, the increase may never exceed the previous rent by more than five per cent Cap. 604·Art. 14(3).

The same cap governs renewals: an express renewal may not change the original agreement except for the Article 14 increase Cap. 604·Art. 9A(2).

The NSO publishes the Residential Property Price Index quarterly. These are the four quarters that count today (latest release 2 July 2026):

The average sits above the statutory ceiling, so the ceiling wins: the most you may apply in 2026 is 5%. It has been this way for over two years - every published quarter since mid-2024 has exceeded 5%. The next RPPI release (Q2 2026) is due in early October 2026; we update this page with each release.

The single most persistent myth about Maltese rent control is that the 5% cap applies to everything. It does not. The rent of a new lease "shall be freely stipulated between the parties" Cap. 604·Art. 13(1) - and the Housing Authority spells it out in its own FAQ: there is no limit on rent increases for new contracts.

The cap exists to protect a sitting tenant from being priced out of their home mid-relationship. Once the tenancy genuinely ends and you let to someone new, the market - not the index - sets your rent. What you should not do is dress up the same tenancy as a "new" contract to dodge the cap: a renewal may only change the rent within the Article 14 limit, however it is papered.

Say your tenant pays €1,200/month and the lease is up for renewal this summer.

• Index average: +6.025% (four quarters to Q1 2026) - above the ceiling.
• Applied cap: 5% → maximum increase €60, maximum new rent €1,260.
• If the market around you has moved 15%, you still may not charge this tenant more than €1,260 on renewal - the difference is the price of keeping a good tenant without a vacancy.