Tenant Rights Rules 2025: How much can a landlord increase the rent in a year, tenants should know their rights

News, Digital Desk-  (Tenant Rights) Nowadays finding a good rental house is a big challenge. For livelihood, people are forced to live away from their homes in big and small cities, where rented houses are the only option. 

Due to the increasing number of tenants (tenants rights), landlords often act arbitrarily. Talking about increasing the rent in a few months becomes the biggest problem for tenants, which puts a burden on their financial condition.

There are rules for increasing the rent for the landlord. He cannot increase the rent arbitrarily. This is considered illegal legally. If he is making any change in the rent amount, then he has to follow certain rules and local regulations. For this, different rules have been made in every state.

Terms of the lease or agreement-

When you rent a house for a fixed period, say 11 months or 1 year, the landlord cannot increase the rent during that period. This is possible only if the provision for rent increase is clearly written in your rent agreement. 

For example, if there is a condition in the agreement that the rent will increase by 10 percent every year, it will be legally valid. Apart from this pre-determined condition, the landlord has no other option to increase the rent.

State and local laws-

In some states, a limit is set on increasing the rent. For example, the rent can be increased by only 10 percent every year. Apart from this, it is necessary for the landlord to give a notice before increasing the rent. Increasing the rent without notice is considered illegal.

This is the rule in Maharashtra-

The Maharashtra Rent Control Act has been in force in Maharashtra since March 31, 2000. This law gives landlords the right to increase the rent of the rented premises by four percent annually. 

Additionally, if the property has been repaired, altered or improved, the rent can be increased. However, in such a situation, the increase in rent cannot exceed 15 percent of the cost of the construction work done. This act balances the rights of both the tenant and the landlord.

This rule is applicable in Delhi-

In the national capital Delhi, the Rent Control Act of 2009 was implemented regarding rent. It states that if the same tenant is continuously living in the property, then the landlord or lessee is not allowed to increase the rent by more than seven percent (7%) annually.