Tenants renting properties in the Balearic Islands claim that some landlords are flouting the maximum 2% price increase that was set by the Government last month to help combat inflation.
“There’s been a constant trickle of complaints,” says Alfonso Rodrígues, President of the Association of Users & Consumers of the Balearic Islands, who is demanding that the administration put the necessary control mechanisms in place to make sure the cap is not being violated.
"There are some landlords who are ignoring the directive, but a lot of tenants won’t confront their landlords, because they don’t want to create major problems that could end up in court or force them to find someplace else to stay,” he adds.
The Government agreed to temporarily freeze the clause in rental contracts, which allows homeowners to update rents based on changes in the Consumer Price Index. Until next June 30, rents can only be increased by a maximum of 2%.
The annual variation rate of the CPI for the month of March stood at 9.8%, which is more than two points above February’s 7.6% and equates an average price hike of around 50 euros a month. That led to Government intervention and a three month price freeze.
According to real estate experts, most property owners do respect the law and choose not to charge exorbitant rents.
"We have no record of owners violating the regulations here,” says Fernando Valentí, Manager of Living Palma Real Estate and President of the Balearic Association of Real Estate Services. “Most landlords had already reached agreements to lower rents or not apply a 9.5% increase last month, because they felt it was excessive."
Old Town Palma is one of the most expensive places in Mallorca to rent property.
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The Landlords Greed will be their demise.
So, you live in a cave then? Don't shop? Don't have heating? Don't drive? Don't have electric bills? In case you haven't noticed, the cost of everything, especially heating and electricity just increased substantially. Not to mention that demand for rental properties is so high that renting your place at half the price of everybody else is just plain stupid. And you may be unwittingly attracting a less desirable type of tenant that ends up costing you a fortune. Try wearing those shoes before spitting on them.
Greed, uneducated, ba...rds - nothing good can be said about such people