Can a landlord increase the rent during the term of the contract: what the law and the Supreme Court say

Increasing the cost of renting housing during the term of the contract often causes conflicts between apartment owners and tenants. Rising market prices, inflation, or increased costs of the landlord often prompt owners to demand higher payments. However, Ukrainian legislation does not allow changing the amount of rent only at the request of one of the parties.

The contract is mandatory

The Civil Code of Ukraine enshrines the principle of freedom of contract and the obligation to fulfill it. According to Articles 627, 629, and 632 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, after signing the contract, its terms are mandatory for the parties, and a change in the price is possible only in cases provided for by law or the contract itself.

This means that if the parties have agreed on a fixed amount of rent and have not provided for a procedure for its revision, the landlord does not have the right to unilaterally demand an increase in the rent only due to a change in the market situation.

When is a rent increase legal

When concluding a contract, the parties can agree in advance on a mechanism for changing the rent.

Most often, contracts provide for:

annual indexation;
revision according to the inflation index;
change depending on the exchange rate;
other economic indicators agreed upon by the parties.

If such a mechanism is prescribed in the contract, its application is not considered a unilateral change in the conditions, since the parties agreed on it when concluding the contract.

Position of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, in its resolution of May 14, 2025 in case No. 904/1892/24, noted that even if the contract provides for the possibility of revising the rent, this does not mean its automatic change.

If the parties have agreed that the new amount of the payment is drawn up in an additional agreement, it comes into force only after its signing. In addition, the court emphasized that it is impossible to change the rent retroactively through the court.

The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court expressed a separate legal position in case No. 914/2843/22, noting that under land lease agreements, amendments to the agreement come into force from the moment the parties sign an additional agreement, unless otherwise established by the agreement itself.

The Supreme Court also drew attention in case No. 922/1658/19 that the method of revising the rent agreed upon by the parties cannot be replaced by another. For example, if the agreement provides only for indexation in accordance with inflation, the landlord cannot independently switch to another calculation method.

Is it possible to increase the rent through the court

The mere fact of the tenant’s unwillingness to agree to a new amount does not give grounds for automatically satisfying the claim.

The court may change the terms of the agreement only in cases expressly provided for by law or the agreement itself. The law also allows for changes to the agreement due to a significant change in circumstances, however, for this it is necessary to prove the presence of all the conditions specified in Article 652 of the Civil Code of Ukraine.

At the same time, ordinary inflation or an increase in market prices are not always recognized as sufficient grounds for revising the contract.

What this means for tenants

If the apartment lease agreement does not provide for the owner’s right to revise the rent unilaterally, he cannot simply notify the tenant of the new amount and demand its payment from the next month.

In this case, the conditions agreed upon by the parties when concluding the contract continue to apply until they are changed by mutual consent or in another manner prescribed by law.

What to pay attention to

Lawyers recommend that even at the stage of concluding the contract, the procedure for possible revision of the rent be prescribed in as much detail as possible. In particular, it is worth determining:

the frequency of revision;
the calculation formula;
the grounds for changing the value;
the terms of notifying the other party;
the procedure for making changes.

It is the clear terms of the contract that most often become decisive in the event of a dispute between the landlord and the tenant.

Thus, Ukrainian legislation protects both parties to the contract and does not allow arbitrarily increasing the rent during its term. A change in price is possible only by mutual agreement of the parties or in cases expressly provided for by law or the contract itself.