IRL Rent Revision in France: When and How a Landlord Can Raise the Rent (and the F/G Energy Freeze)

The Indice de référence des loyers (IRL) is published by INSEE four times a year, around mid-January, mid-April, mid-July and mid-October. By law it equals the average, over the last twelve months, of consumer prices excluding tobacco and rent (art. 17-1, loi n°89-462). It is not a rent — it is the ceiling on how much an annual revision may add.

At the first quarter of 2026 the IRL stands at 146.60, a +0.78% rise over one year (INSEE, informations rapides). So a lease indexed on the Q1 index may be revised upward by at most 0.78% this cycle — not a penny more.

Two things landlords routinely get wrong:

• The revision is never automatic in your favour: it is a cap, and you must actively claim it.
• You apply the variation of the index, not a flat percentage you have heard about. Always pull the live figure for your reference quarter from service-public.fr or INSEE.

Annual revision only exists if the lease contains a revision clause ("Lorsque le contrat prévoit la révision du loyer", art. 17-1 I). Most standard French leases do; if yours does not, you cannot raise the rent during the lease at all — only, in limited cases, at renewal.

When a clause exists:

1. The revision happens once a year, on the date set in the lease, or failing that on the anniversary of the lease.
2. It uses a reference quarter — the quarter named in the lease (e.g. "IRL of the 1st quarter").
3. If the lease names no quarter, you take the last IRL published at the date of signature (service-public.fr).

You may revise only once per year, and you must use the same quarter for both the current and the previous year's index — mixing quarters is the most common calculation error.

This is the trap that costs landlords the most money, and it is written in black and white in article 17-1 of the loi n°89-462 of 6 July 1989 (Légifrance):

« À défaut de manifester sa volonté d'appliquer la révision du loyer dans un délai d'un an suivant sa date de prise d'effet, le bailleur est réputé avoir renoncé au bénéfice de cette clause pour l'année écoulée. »

And, crucially, on retroactivity:

« Si le bailleur manifeste sa volonté de réviser le loyer dans le délai d'un an, cette révision de loyer prend effet à compter de sa demande. »

In practice:

• You have 12 months from the revision date to claim the increase.
• If you claim it late but within the year, it applies from the date of your request forward — you get no back-pay for the months already elapsed.
• Once the 12 months are gone, that year's increase is permanently lost. You cannot roll it into next year.

The formula from service-public.fr is:

New rent = current rent × (IRL of the reference quarter, current year) ÷ (IRL of the same quarter, previous year), rounded to the nearest cent.

Worked example. Rent of €800, lease indexed on the 1st-quarter IRL, revised in 2026:

• 800 × 146.60 ÷ 145.47 = €806.21
• Monthly increase: +€6.21 (i.e. +0.78%).

Recent IRL values (mainland France) — always confirm the live figure at INSEE/ANIL before applying:

Source: ANIL – tableau de l'IRL. Note the index genuinely dipped through mid-2024 and 2025 (energy base effects), so use the exact quarter — do not assume it only ever rises.

This overrides everything above. The loi Climat et Résilience n°2021-1104 of 22 August 2021 (art. 159) amended article 17-1 of the 1989 law, and décret n°2022-1079 of 29 July 2022 set the start date. The result:

• Since 24 August 2022 in mainland France (1 July 2024 in the overseas departments), the rent of a home classified F or G on the DPE cannot be revised, increased at renewal, or raised at re-letting (ecologie.gouv.fr).
• The freeze applies to any lease signed, renewed or tacitly renewed since that date — which, given that leases renew automatically, now covers virtually the entire F/G stock.
• The freeze is lifted only when renovation works move the DPE to E or better. A new DPE is required to prove it.

Related but distinct is the décence énergétique calendar: G-rated homes have been barred from new lettings since 1 January 2025, F from 2028 and E from 2034 (mainland; calendar subject to adjustment — verify the current text). If your property is F or G, the priority is renovation, not revision.

Even where the IRL allows an increase, a zone tendue may cap it further. There are two separate regimes, often confused:

1. Encadrement de l'évolution des loyers (art. 18, loi 89-462, annual décret): in tight zones, at re-letting the new rent generally cannot exceed the previous tenant's rent revised by the IRL — with narrow exceptions (recent works, a demonstrably undervalued rent).
2. Encadrement des loyers (reference-rent cap): in Paris, Lyon, Villeurbanne, Lille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, the Pays basque, Plaine Commune, Est Ensemble and other listed areas, the rent must stay under a loyer de référence majoré, whatever the IRL says.

And for context: the temporary +3.5% "bouclier loyer" cap ended after Q1 2024 in mainland France, so revisions again follow the full IRL — but the ceilings above still apply.

Run through this before sending anything to your tenant:

1. Confirm the lease has a revision clause and note the reference quarter.
2. Check the DPE. F or G means stop — the rent is frozen until renovation.
3. Check whether you are in a rent-control zone (encadrement / zone tendue).
4. Pull the live IRL for your quarter from INSEE or ANIL — for the current and previous year, same quarter.
5. Apply the formula and round to the nearest cent.
6. Notify the tenant in writing, promptly. The revision is not retroactive, and you have only 12 months — do not let the window close.

If you are not sure whether you may raise the rent this year, you can check your rent-increase eligibility and generate the compliant revision notice in a couple of minutes — it checks the clause, the deadline and the F/G freeze for you.