§ 4-2. The landlord can adjust the rent in line with the Consumer Price Index
The landlord can adjust the rent once a year in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) (konsumprisindeksen, KPI). You must receive at least one month's written notice. The landlord cannot charge more than the CPI allows — and you can demand the same if prices have fallen.
Machine-translated from Norwegian. The Norwegian text is the one that applies. Read the original in Norwegian.Norsk English العربية Polski Українська
The text of the law (unofficial translation)
Either party may demand that the rent be changed without notice of termination (oppsigelse) of the tenancy (leieforhold), subject to the following limitations: a. the change must not correspond to more than the change in the Consumer Price Index in the period since the rent was last set, b. the change can be put into effect no earlier than one year after the last setting of the rent was put into effect, and c. the other party must be given written notice with a period of at least one month before the change can be put into effect.
What does this mean?
Your rent is not necessarily locked forever. Once you have lived there for one year, the landlord can adjust the rent in line with the Consumer Price Index — Statistics Norway's (SSB) measure of price development in society.
Three requirements must all be met:
One: The adjustment cannot exceed the CPI increase since the rent was last set. If the CPI has risen by 3.2 per cent, that is the maximum for the adjustment. If the CPI has fallen, the landlord cannot adjust the rent upwards.
Two: At least one year must have passed since the previous adjustment — or since the tenancy agreement (leieavtale) was entered into.
Three: You must receive written notice with at least one month's notice. The notice must reach you at least one month before the new rent takes effect.
It is a right for both parties. If the CPI has fallen, you can demand that the rent be adjusted downwards. It is not only the landlord's right.
Where can you find the CPI? SSB.no publishes the Consumer Price Index monthly. Many landlords use the calculator on the website of Huseiernes Landsforbund (the Norwegian Homeowners' Association) or SSB's own calculator to work out the adjustment.
Examples
Kari pays NOK 11,000 a month. The CPI has risen 4.1 per cent over the past year. On 1 March, the landlord sends written notice that the rent will be increased by 4.1 per cent — to NOK 11,451 — from 1 April. This is lawful: the notice was given in time, the adjustment equals the CPI, and more than one year has passed since the previous adjustment.
Tom receives notice that the rent will be increased by 8 per cent. The CPI increase over the past year is 3.8 per cent. The landlord can only demand 3.8 per cent. Tom pays the CPI-adjusted rent and notifies the landlord in writing that he does not accept the excess.
Common mistakes
- Accepting an adjustment above the CPI without checking. Always check SSB's figures. The landlord cannot charge more than the CPI.
- Thinking that notice by text message is enough. The notice must be in writing — email is enough, but verbal notice or a text message is doubtful.
- Forgetting that the notice period is one full month. If you receive the notice on 15 March about an increase from 1 April, the notice period has not been met — that is only 16 days.
What should you do?
If you receive notice of a rent adjustment: Check the CPI increase on ssb.no for the relevant period. Check that the notice was given at least one month in advance. Check that the adjustment does not exceed the CPI. If everything adds up, it is lawful. If it does not, send a written protest to the landlord.
Frequently asked questions
Can the landlord adjust the rent twice in one year?
What if my contract says nothing about CPI adjustment?
- § 4-1Ban on unreasonable rent
- § 4-3Adjustment to prevailing rent (gjengs leie) after 2.5 years
- § 4-5Exceptions to the protection against unreasonable rent (leieprisvern)
- § 3-1The amount of the rent