The government updated the state rent tariff at the beginning of April for the first time since 2007, and the effect was immediately felt throughout the market: the rent index jumped to 133.5%. It's the biggest jump in the inflation basket after energy.
The owner of an apartment (two rooms, 65 square meters in Militari) where the daughter of a good acquaintance lives, increased her rent, in April, from 500 euros to 600 euros. A hundred euros more per month, for no apparent reason. Other than “that's the market”.
19 years of freezing, then a sudden thaw
But the market did not move on its own. Behind this 20% jump is a government decision – HG 193/2026 – which updated for the first time in 19 years the basic monthly rent rate for housing belonging to the public and private domain of the state.
The last time the Romanian state revised this tariff, also by government decision, was in 2007. Since then, inflation has eroded year after year the real value of state rents, and the free market has evolved at its own pace, without any official anchor.
Suddenly, in April 2026, the basic rate for living space was set at 2.02 lei/sqm, compared to the level of 2007. Garages and special facilities – swimming pools, saunas, cellars – reach 3.05 lei/sqm. The effect was then in the chain, for the whole real estate market.
The effect: the biggest jump in the inflation basket after energy
The National Institute of Statistics immediately recorded the impact. The index for the “rent” group recorded in April 133.50% compared to the same month last year. That is, rents have risen by more than 33% in a single year.
Rents thus rose to second place in the list of price increases from April 2026, right after energy, and contributed decisively to pushing annual inflation to 10.71% – well above the target of the National Bank of Romania (2.5%)
INS specifies in a message sent to HotNews that the “rent” group includes:
- rents for homes belonging to the public or private domain of the state or administrative-territorial units, established by government decisions;
- market rents, for housing rented by the population.
“In April, the index for the “rent” group recorded a value of 133.50%, mainly as a result of the change in the monthly rent charged for residential spaces belonging to the public or private domain of the state or administrative-territorial units, through the adoption of GD 193/07.04.2026″, explains Statistica.
Who pays
The tenant in Militari knows nothing about HG 193/2026. He only knows that now he has to spend an extra 100 euros per month – money that he either cuts from other expenses or borrows.
The rise in rents comes at a time when retail sales were already down 6.8% compared to last year, a sign that Romanians were spending less long before the bill rose again.
