The Mexico City Congress has approved a rent control bill pegging residential rent increases to inflation. The new rule replaces previous regulations that allowed landlords to hike rents as much as 10% annually. The most recent data from national statistics agency reported an annual inflation rate in Mexico of 5.6%.

The bill passed by a near perfect 57-0 vote, with three lawmakers absent. City legislators acted quickly to pass the proposal, which was submitted by interim Mayor of Mexico City Marti Batres, on 29 July.

Batres said the bill was necessary because rents in the capital had increased to eight times the minimum wage between 2013 and 2019. In just three-and-a-half weeks, the Congress called a Special Session and moved the rental reform legislation through committee and onto the floor for the final vote with little debate.

The rent control law comes on the heels of new laws regulating Airbnb and other short-term rentals and an affordable housing pilot program, which provides low-rent apartments in areas of the city that have been impacted by gentrification.

In April, a bill was also approved which obligates the government to establish a digital registry of all rental contracts. All property owners — personal and corporate — must register new rental contracts within 30 days of signing, and all existing contracts must be registered within 90 days of the law’s enactment.