Australia Rental regulations are administered by the state and territory governments. Rent control and freezes were features of the First and Second World War, the
Great Depression, and the early stages of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Australian Capital Territory The
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is the only jurisdiction with regulation specifying maximum rent increases. Rents can only be increased for sitting tenants once a year by a maximum of 110% of the
consumer price index for the cost of rent in the ACT. Rents between tenancies are not regulated, and are allowed to rise to market rate upon vacancy (vacancy decontrol). Rent increases above the amount prescribed by regulation may be disputed by application to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT). Other Australian jurisdictions allow for rent increases every six to twelve months with variable notice periods.
New South Wales New South Wales has a small number of tenants who are not covered by the
Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), but rather continuing provisions of the repealed
Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1948 (NSW). Such ‘protected tenants’ pay a regulated ‘fair rent’ set either through a
Section 17A agreement registered with NSW Fair Trading, or a magistrate sitting as the Fair Rents Board (NSW).
Canada In Canada, there are rent regulation laws in each province. For example, in
Ontario the
Residential Tenancies Act 2006 requires that prices for rented properties do not rise more than 2.5 percent each year, or a lower figure fixed by a government minister.
China China announced in August 2021 new nationwide rent regulations that cap maximum yearly rent increases to 5% in all urban areas, which comprise over 2/3 of the population and include most of the ~250 million renters in the country.
Egypt Rent controls were temporarily introduced in the 1920s in the wake of a housing shortage after
World War I. The same happened after a housing shortage instigated price gouging during
World War II, in an attempt to protect tenant rights. The controls reduced rent values of existing contracts by a certain percentage, leaving new contracts free of price controls so as not to disincentivise new build. The temporary controls were made permanent with Law 121/1947 which also added eviction controls by de-limiting rental terms which could only end if an owner needed the unit for own use, the building collapsed, non-payment, or other breaches of contract. Controls also allowed reporting of vacancy, allowing unused properties to be rented out if a tenant requested that. These became colloquially known as Old Rent. In 1996, amid broader neoliberal
structural adjustment, Law 4/1996 was introduced, known as New Rent, deregulating rental for all new contracts, while leaving Old Rent (rent control) contracts untouched, citing the risk of mass eviction and unrest. In 2025, Law 164/2025 was ratified ending the rent control system, putting 1.6 million households, comprising 7% of all households in Egypt, in jeopardy of imminent eviction, and threatening to exacerbate existing
housing problems. Under Old Rents approximately one third pay less than USD 1 (EGP 50) per month in rent. Rent for rent-regulated apartments will be allowed to rise by 10-20 times in the first year, than 15% for six further years before a final jump to market rate. One example given is a tenant who has lived in the same apartment since 1984 whose monthly rent will increase from (in US dollars) $0.82 to $123.60 (from 40 to 6,000 Egyptian pounds).
France Rent regulations are determined in France based on the Rent Reference Index, which serves as the basis for what landlords can increase yearly rents by. In July 2022, France introduced a new cap on yearly rent increase of a maximum of 3.5% for one year.
Germany German rent regulation is found in the "Civil Code" (the
Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch) in § 535 to § 580a. As common in German law, regulations are structured into an abstract, more general part that applies to all contracts of a certain type, followed by a more specific section for individual fields of application of this type of contract. Specific regulations for rental contracts governing apartments range from §§ 549 - 577a BGB. The German law differentiates between the rental price at the starting point of the contract and rent increases throughout the duration of the contract. Generally, the rental price at the starting point of the contract is determined by the contractual agreement between the parties. Only in designated regions with a strained housing market, the rental price at the beginning of the rental agreement are capped by law. Increases in the rental prices throughout the duration of a rental contract are required to follow a "rent level" (
Mietspiegel), which is a database of local reference rent prices. This collects all rent prices of new rental contracts of the past four years, and landlords may only increase prices on their property in line with rents in the same locality.
Usury Rents are prohibited altogether, so that any price rises above 20 per cent over three years are unlawful. Tenants may be evicted against their will through a court procedure for a good reason, and in the normal case only with a minimum of three months' notice. Tenants receive unlimited duration of their rental agreement unless the duration is explicitly halted. In practice, landlords have little incentive to change tenants as rental price increases beyond inflation are constrained. During the period of the tenancy, a person's tenancy may only be terminated for very good reasons. A system of rights for the rental property to be maintained by the landlord is designed to ensure quality of housing. Many states, such as
Berlin, have a constitutional right to adequate housing, and require buildings to make dwelling spaces of a certain size and ceiling height. In 2020, Berlin implemented a rent freeze, which was unprecedented in the German housing market. It benefitted sitting renters, but it substantially reduced the supply of new housing, harming those looking for a dwelling. The rent freeze was repealed in 2021.
Netherlands Yearly rent increases in the Netherlands are capped at a maximum of inflation + 1%, calculated as 3.3% in 2022.
Spain The
Catalonia region of
Spain passed a rent-regulation law in September 2020.
United Kingdom Rent regulation covered the whole of the UK private sector rental market from 1915 to 1980. However, from the
Housing Act 1980, it became
Conservative Party policy to deregulate and dismantle rent regulation. Regulation for all new tenancies was abolished by the
Housing Act 1988, leaving the basic regulatory framework was "
freedom of contract" by the landlord to set any price. Rent regulations survive among a small number of
council houses, and often the rates set by local authorities mirror escalating prices in the non-regulated private market. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 introduces limited rent regulation to the private rented sector in England from 1 May 2026, restricting landlords to one rent increase per year and requiring at least two months' notice via a prescribed form. Tenants may challenge excessive increases through the First-tier Tribunal.
United States Rent regulation in the
United States is an issue for each state. In 1921, the
US Supreme Court case of
Block v. Hirsh held that regulation of rents in the District of Columbia as a temporary emergency measure was constitutional, but shortly afterward in 1924 in
Chastleton Corp v. Sinclair the same law was unanimously struck down by the Supreme Court. After the 1930s
New Deal, the Supreme Court ceased to interfere with social and economic legislation, and many states adopted rules. In the 1986 case of
Fisher v. City of Berkeley, the US Supreme court held that there was no incompatibility between rent control and the
Sherman Act. Rent control existed in several Massachusetts communities from 1970 to 1994. During this time, at least 20% of all rent-controlled apartments in Cambridge housed the rich. The vast majority housed middle- and high-income earners. They included
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. As of 2018, 4 states (
California,
New York,
New Jersey, and
Maryland) and the
District of Columbia have localities in which some form of residential rent control is in effect (for normal structures, excluding
mobile homes). 37 states either prohibit or preempt rent control, while 9 states allow their cities to enact rent control, but have no cities that have implemented it. For the localities with rent control, it often covers a large percentage of that city's stock of rental units: For example: in
New York City in 2011, 45% of rental units were either "rent-stabilized" or "rent-controlled", (these are different legal classifications in NYC) in the District of Columbia in 2014, just over 50% of rental units were rent-controlled, in
San Francisco, as of 2014, about 75% of all rental units were rent-controlled, and in
Los Angeles in 2014, 80% of
multifamily units were rent controlled. In 2019 California passed a statewide rent cap for the next 10 years which limits yearly rent increases to 5% plus regional inflation. In 2019
Oregon's legislature passed a bill which made the state the first in the nation to adopt a state-wide rent control policy. This law limits annual rent increases to inflation plus 7 percent, includes vacancy decontrol (market rate between tenancies), exempts new construction for 15 years, and maintains the state ban on local rent control policies (state level preemption). In November 2021, voters in
Saint Paul, Minnesota passed a rent control
ballot initiative which capped annual rent increases at 3 percent, included vacancy control, and did not exempt new construction, nor allow inflation to be added to the allowable rate increase. This was followed by an 80% reduction in requests for new multifamily housing permits, while in neighboring
Minneapolis, where voters authorized the city council to craft a rent control ordinance, yet to be enacted—which may exempt new construction from the rent control caps—permits were up 68%. == See also ==