The government has therefore confirmed in its emergency measures bill for the protection of purchasing power a temporary cap on the variation of the IRL (Rental Reference Index) to partly protect tenants from the current levels of inflation. As previously announced, the increase in the IRL, used to adjust rents annually, would be capped from the third quarter of 2022 and for 1 year at +3.5%, a level close to the change in the IRL expected in second quarter of 2022 (which will be known this Wednesday).
For 1 year
” By way of derogation from certain legislative provisions, including those relating to the revision of rents in private housing and social housing, for setting the reference indices for rents between the third quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2023, the sliding variation annual rental benchmark index may not exceed 3.5% “, thus specifies article 6 of the bill which must still be debated before the deputies by the end of July (the accelerated procedure has been initiated by the government on this text).
Without this exceptional mechanism, the rise in the IRL, which passes on the trend in consumer prices with a lag of about 12 months, would have quickly climbed between 5% and 6%. Concretely, this cap on the IRL at +3.5% would concern rental contracts whose anniversary date is between mid-October 2022 and mid-October 2023.
Revaluation of APL by 3.5% from July 1
In order to take into account the high level of inflation already observed and to limit excessive increases in housing expenditure for tenants with modest incomes, this article 6 also proposes indexing in advance the personalized housing aid (APL) paid to from July 1, 2022 without waiting for October 1. Normally, APLs are indeed revalued in October following the IRL for the second quarter. This year, the APLs would therefore be revalued from July 1 to the same amount of +3.5%, qualified as “ shield rents “.
to know
The IRL serves as the basis for the annual rent review. Concretely, on each anniversary date of the lease, the rent can be revised upwards according to the last known IRL. The IRL for the first quarter of 2022 had increased by +2.48%.