Free tool
Can my landlord raise the rent this much?
When your lease says nothing about increases, a Czech landlord can propose a higher rent only on the Civil Code’s terms. Put in your lease’s history and the proposal to see whether it passes, the most the rent can reach, and what happens next.
Whether the increase passes
- Rent now
- 19.500 Kč
- Proposed
- 22.500 Kč
- +15,4 % on the rent now
Over the 20 % limit
3 years before the proposal the rent was 18.000 Kč. With 20 % on top the most it can reach is 21.600 Kč, and the proposal asks 22.500 Kč, 25 % more than then.
- Rent 3 years before
- 18.000 Kč
- 1 increase in those years.
- The most under the 20 % test
- 21.600 Kč
What happens next
- If you agree, you pay the new rent from 1. Januar 2027.
- If you haven’t agreed in writing by 25. Dezember 2026, the rent stays as it is for now.
- The landlord may then ask a court to set the rent, by 25. März 2027. A court can set at most the usual rent in the place, from the day of the claim; a claim made later fails if you object.
- A proposal that doesn’t state the new rent, or doesn’t show the conditions are met, doesn’t count.
- You can propose a lower rent in the same way, if yours is above the usual rent in the place.
Against the asking rents nearby
The rent can’t go above the usual rent for comparable flats in the place. The law asks for an expert’s opinion or three comparable rents actually paid; the asking rents of similar flats on Bytky are a guide to where it might be.
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How the check works
Civil Code §2249 lets a landlord propose a higher rent when the lease neither sets increases nor rules them out. The check applies its conditions to the history you enter.
What it checks
- Time: at least 12 months without an increase, counted from the last increase, or from the lease’s start if there was none.
- The limit: the proposed rent against the rent of 3 years before the proposal, so every increase in those years counts. An increase on that very day counts too.
- The usual rent: never more than the rent paid for comparable flats in the place, shown by an expert’s opinion or at least three comparable rents. Bytky’s asking rents are only a guide to it.
- The dates: your reply within 2 months, the landlord’s court claim within 3 months more, and an agreed rent from the 3th calendar month after the proposal.
What it leaves out
- Increases after building work that lastingly improves the flat or saves energy: a separate rule (Civil Code §2250).
- Whether the proposal itself is valid: in writing, with the new rent and the evidence.
- Flats with capped rents: cooperative flats let to members, service flats and flats built with public support.
- The advances for services: they change with the costs, not under this rule.
Every rule and its source
Each figure comes from the law, read on the date shown.
Most it can rise20 %Geprüft
Civil Code §2249(1): the proposed increase together with the increases of the years before may not exceed this, and the rent may not exceed the comparable rent usual in the place. Geprüft am 19. Oktober 2026
The years that count3 JahreGeprüft
Civil Code §2249(1): the increases of these last years count with the proposed one. Geprüft am 19. Oktober 2026
Time without an increase12 monthsGeprüft
Civil Code §2249(1): a proposal made sooner after the last increase, or without the new rent and proof of the conditions, is disregarded. Geprüft am 19. Oktober 2026
Your time to agree2 monthsGeprüft
Civil Code §2249(3): if the tenant doesn’t agree in writing within this time of receiving the proposal, the landlord may go to court. Geprüft am 19. Oktober 2026
The landlord’s time to go to court3 monthsGeprüft
Civil Code §2249(3): after that, the landlord may ask a court to set the rent within this time; a later claim fails if the tenant objects. Geprüft am 19. Oktober 2026
An agreed rent runs fromthe 3th calendar month after the proposalGeprüft
Civil Code §2249(3): a tenant who agrees pays the new rent from that month. Geprüft am 19. Oktober 2026
Questions
Questions about rent increases
How much can a landlord raise the rent in Czechia?
If the lease says nothing about increases, by at most 20 % over 3 years, counting the earlier increases in those years, and never above the usual rent for comparable flats in the place (Civil Code §2249). If the lease sets increases, by inflation for example, they follow the lease.
How often can my rent go up?
Under §2249, a proposal counts only after 12 months without an increase. One made sooner is disregarded, and so is one that doesn’t state the new rent or show the conditions are met.
Can my landlord raise the rent by inflation every year?
Only if the lease says so: landlord and tenant can agree yearly increases (Civil Code §2248), and then the lease’s clause decides. Without such a clause, an increase has to pass §2249.
What if I don’t agree to the increase?
You don’t have to. If you haven’t agreed in writing within 2 months of receiving the proposal, the landlord may ask a court within 3 months more to set the rent. The court can set at most the usual rent in the place, from the day of the claim.
What is the “usual rent” in the place?
The rent paid for comparable flats nearby on comparable terms. A landlord shows it with an expert’s opinion or at least three comparable rents actually paid (Government Regulation 453/2013 Coll.). Asking rents, like those on Bytky, are a guide but not that evidence.
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