Mexico City's rent bill would extend the inflation cap to new tenants; landlords want new tenancies left free

Mexico City already caps annual rent increases at the inflation rate within a tenancy and requires leases to be registered, under 2024 reforms to its Civil Code that the Supreme Court upheld on 25 February 2026 while leaving landlords and tenants free to set the initial rent. Mayor Clara Brugada sent the city Congress a tenancy bill on 14 October 2026 that would go further. As reported, it would cap annual increases at inflation measured by INEGI even when a tenant changes, assign a mandatory digital register of leases to the city's digital agency (ADIP), and create a Defensoría de las Relaciones Inquilinarias, an office for tenancy disputes. The bill went to committees on 20 October, which have 45 business days, extendable, to report. Ten dialogue sessions run from 6 to 17 November. On 5 November the G9 real-estate group asked that the cap apply only within a tenancy and its renewals with the same tenant, with initial rents set freely, and proposed tax incentives for affordable housing rather than concentrating regulation on price restrictions.

Whether a cap carries over to the next tenant is the central design choice in most rent-control debates, and it is the main change the bill would make. Mexico City's experience will also show whether a lease register, already in law since 2024, can be made to produce usable rent data. No vote has taken place.