Contract terms are shortened and price adjustments are more frequent

In terms of rental housing, since the Rental Law fell, the three-year period that determined the duration of the contract was reduced to only 9.7% of cases. On the other hand, the share of short-term rentals grew strongly. Those with a duration of less than or equal to one year represent 27.2% of the total. And contracts between one and two years are now the most frequent, in 57.7% of the cases surveyed in June.

The data is part of the National Tenant Survey for the month of June carried out by the National Tenant Federation and the Ni Una Menos group to find out what economic and housing situation tenants are in almost six months after the elimination of the regulatory framework to from Decree 70/2023.

The questionnaire inquired about different aspects of the homes of people who rent: income, the amount of the contract and expenses paid per month according to the number of rooms in the home and by province, the frequency of updating the price and the duration of the contract, the need for debt to meet the payment, expectations and concerns regarding the housing situation. More than 2,400 responses were obtained throughout the country.

Among the results, the work points out that today the annual updating of contracts is almost no longer a possibility. 95.5% of rentals are adjusted in periods equal to or less than six months. On average, 7 out of 10 tenants who signed their contracts after the decree have increases monthly or every 3 or 4 months.

Regarding prices, the study indicates that in CABA the contracts started this year “pay approximately between 40% and 50% more than those that began within the framework of the Rental Law.”

Another survey by Mercado Libre with the University of San Andrés indicates that, in the AMBA in June there were variations of 5.6% and 9.6% compared to May in the rentals of apartments and houses, respectively.

If we measure the year-on-year variations (compared to June 2023), the prices per square meter for renting houses rose 141.4% in GBA Norte, 147.3% in GBA Sur and 184.6% in GBA Oeste. And the apartments had increases of 115.1% in CABA, 137.6% in GBA Norte, 190.9% in GBA Zona Sur and 203.8% in GBA Oeste. Although they are considerable increases, in all cases are below inflation, which was 276.4%.

Other results from the Inquilinos Agrupados survey showed that: 34.4% of household income goes towards paying rent plus expenses, excluding taxes and utility fees. In the case of those rentals that started after the entry into force of Decree 70/2023, the incidence of the housing rental expense in the household budget amounts to 38.6%.

According to the survey, 15% of respondents said they had to move house in recent months because they could not afford to pay rent. And 62% of households admitted to currently having debts of some kind.

“The vast majority (over 80%) said that the housing situation and the evolution of their salaries/income are the main reasons for concern at present,” the survey showed.

As well as that “42.2% of the tenants surveyed consider that they will have difficulties paying rent in the coming months and 46.2% responded that they may have them.”