Colombia limits how much a landlord can add to a home rent each year. With inflation climbing, the number that applies to your lease is the old one, not the latest.
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Moving to Colombia 2026: the step-by-step checklist. This guide condensed into 2 printable pages with tick boxes and the key official links.
Key Facts
The limit For 2026, a Colombian landlord may raise a home rent by at most 5.10%, which was the country’s inflation for 2025, according to DANE, the statistics office.
The rule Law 820 of 2003 allows one rise every 12 months, of up to 100% of the previous calendar year’s inflation. It covers urban homes, and a landlord may ask for less.
Why it matters to you Inflation is now 6.29% over 12 months, above the 5.10% limit. A tenant’s rise in 2026 cannot follow current inflation, and next year’s limit will probably be higher.
The peso The official rate (TRM) is 3,238.88 pesos per US dollar for Thursday 8 October, so COP 1,000,000 is about US$309.
Prediction markets Polymarket prices no change in the central bank’s October rate decision at 45.5% and a 0.25-point rise at 38.0% (bets, not polls). Stand: 8 October 2026, 00:40 ET.
How the Rent Limit Works
Under Law 820 of 2003, article 20, a landlord may raise a rent once every 12 months of the same price. The rise can be up to 100% of inflation in the previous calendar year.
DANE reported inflation of 5.10% for 2025, so that is the ceiling for rises taking effect in 2026. The rise does not happen on 1 January. It applies when your lease completes 12 months at the same price.
The limit is a maximum, not an entitlement. A landlord may keep the rent unchanged or ask for less. The rule covers urban homes. Shops and offices fall outside Law 820, and their contracts set the adjustment.
Article 18 of the same law also caps the monthly rent at 1% of the property’s commercial value. A rise below 5.10% can therefore still be too high if the total rent passes that cap.
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A Worked Example
Take a rent of COP 2,000,000 a month, about US$617 at 3,238.88 pesos per dollar. A 5.10% rise is COP 102,000 (about US$31), which makes the new rent COP 2,102,000 (about US$649). A landlord who asks for more than that is above the legal ceiling.
If your landlord quotes a rise, divide the new rent by the old one and subtract one. The result should not exceed 5.10% in 2026.
Why the Limit and Inflation Differ
DANE published the September figure on Wednesday 7 October 2026. Prices rose 0.37% in the month and 6.29% over 12 months, up from 6.24% in August. The 12-month rate stood at 5.18% in September 2025.
Two groups rose faster than the national average in September: education, up 1.43%, and food and non-alcoholic drinks, up 0.78%.
The ceiling for 2027 will follow full-year 2026 inflation, which DANE publishes in January. The September figure is not a forecast for December.
File photo: Bogotá’s skyline, where many foreign residents rent homes.
What This Means for Foreign Residents
Tenants. Check the date your lease completes 12 months, and ask for any rise in writing. The 2026 limit is 5.10%, whatever the headline inflation rate is.
Dollar earners. The peso moved from 3,216.01 on Wednesday to 3,238.88 on Thursday, about 0.7% weaker. A weaker peso lowers a peso rent in dollar terms.
Borrowers. The central bank raised its policy rate by 0.25 points to 12.25% on Wednesday 30 September 2026, effective 1 October. Its next meeting is on Friday 30 October. Peso loans stay costly while the rate is high.
Leases signed in dollars. This note covers pesos. We have not checked how the rule applies to contracts priced in foreign currency, so ask a Colombian lawyer.
What Prediction Markets Say
Colombia’s central bank in October. Polymarket prices no change at 45.5%, a 0.25-point rise at 38.0%, a rise of 0.5 points or more at 12.5%, and a cut at about 2% in total (US$33,741 traded). Stand: 8 October 2026, 00:40 ET.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What Is Not Yet Known
We do not know what the 2027 limit will be, or whether the central bank will raise its rate again on 30 October. We also do not know how a court or notary would treat a disputed rise, since cases depend on the contract.
The spectrum runs both ways. Inflation is still rising, which lifts next year’s ceiling, while September’s monthly reading of 0.37% is smaller than the 12-month rate of 6.29% suggests.
Sources
Law 820 of 2003, articles on rent increases for urban homes, as summarised by La Lonja and Gerencie.
DANE, consumer price index for September 2026 and December 2025, as reported by Infobae, El País Cali, La República and Bloomberg Línea.
Banco de la República, policy-rate decision of 30 September 2026.
Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia via datos.gov.co (TRM for 7 and 8 October 2026).
Polymarket (prediction market, 8 October 2026).
More on Colombia: Colombia hub. Related coverage: today’s LatAm Expat & Nomad Daily Guide, Colombia Inflation Hits 6.29% in September and Colombia Raises Its Policy Rate to 12.25%.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can a landlord in Colombia raise the rent?
Once every 12 months, by up to the previous calendar year’s inflation under Law 820 of 2003. For 2026 that ceiling is 5.10%. A landlord may ask for less, and the rule covers urban homes.
How high is inflation in Colombia?
Prices rose 6.29% over the 12 months to September 2026, according to DANE. Prices rose 0.37% in September alone. The 2026 rent limit uses the 2025 figure of 5.10%.
What is Colombia’s central bank interest rate?
The policy rate is 12.25%, after a 0.25-point rise effective 1 October 2026. The bank meets next on Friday 30 October 2026.
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