San Francisco Rent Increase Limit 2026-2027: 1.6%

San Francisco's Rent Board sets the allowable annual increase using a formula under Rent Ordinance section 37.3(a)(1): 60% of the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in the Bay Area. Applying that formula for the relevant period produced the 1.6% figure covering increases effective March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027.

[Cite: San Francisco Rent Ordinance section 37.3(a)(1)]

This percentage applies to increases during an existing tenancy. It has no bearing on what a landlord can charge when renting a vacant, rent-controlled unit to a brand-new tenant; that starting rent is unrestricted, a rule sometimes called vacancy decontrol.

[Cite: SF.gov, Learn about rent increases in San Francisco]

The largest category of units excluded from San Francisco's rent control entirely is buildings that received their certificate of occupancy after June 13, 1979. A landlord or property manager can typically verify a building's construction date through the San Francisco Assessor's database if there's any uncertainty about whether a specific property is covered.

[Cite: San Francisco Tenants Union, Rent Control]

Buildings that predate that cutoff, and that don't fall into one of the other exempt categories, are the ones subject to the 1.6% annual cap described above.

Beyond the construction-date cutoff, several other categories are exempt from San Francisco's local rent control regardless of when the building was built. These include subsidized housing such as HUD-assisted projects, residential hotels where a tenant's stay is under 32 continuous days, and institutional housing types like dormitories, hospitals, and monasteries.

[Cite: San Francisco Tenants Union, Rent Control]

These exemptions exist because the ordinance is aimed specifically at conventional long-term residential tenancies, not short-stay lodging or housing that already operates under a separate regulatory framework.

This is the part of San Francisco's rules most likely to cause confusion. Single-family homes and condominiums are generally exempt from the city's local rent increase cap, but only for tenancies that started on or after January 1, 1996. That exemption from the local cap doesn't mean there's no limit at all.

[Cite: San Francisco Tenants Union, Rent Control]

Since January 1, 2020, California's statewide Tenant Protection Act has covered many of the units exempt from local rent ordinances, including these single-family homes and condos. Under that state law, annual increases are capped at 5% plus the local rate of inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower, for tenants who have occupied the unit for 12 months or more. A landlord managing a single-family home or condo in San Francisco should apply the state cap, not treat the unit as having no rent increase limit whatsoever.

[Cite: California Civil Code section 1947.12, Tenant Protection Act]

There are also three specific circumstances where a single-family home or condo can have its full local rent control restored despite the general exemption: if the previous tenant was evicted through a no-fault notice, if the building had uncorrected housing code violations for six months or more before the unit became vacant, or in certain condo-subdivider ownership situations where the subdivider still owns the units.

[Cite: San Francisco Tenants Union, Rent Control]

The notice period a landlord must give depends on the size of the increase. A standard increase requires 30 days' written notice. If the increase, either on its own or combined with another increase within the same year, exceeds 10%, the landlord must give 90 days' written notice instead. In either case, 5 additional days must be added if the notice is mailed rather than delivered directly.

[Cite: SF.gov, Learn about rent increases in San Francisco]

For an increase at the 1.6% level described here, the standard 30-day notice period applies, since this figure is well under the 10% threshold that triggers the longer notice requirement.

San Francisco allows landlords to "bank" a year's allowable increase if they choose not to use it, under Administrative Code Chapter 37 and Rent Board Rule 4.12. If a landlord doesn't impose the full allowable percentage in a given year, the unused portion doesn't disappear; it can be applied in a later year instead.

[Cite: San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 37; Rent Board Rule 4.12]

Banked percentages are added together rather than compounded. A landlord who skipped increases of 1.7%, 1.4%, and 1.6% across three years would be able to apply a combined 4.7% later, not a compounded figure calculated against each year's rising rent. Only increases available on or after April 1, 1982 can be banked, and at least 12 months must pass between rent increases regardless of how much banked percentage is being applied. There's no cap on the total banked amount a landlord can impose at once, though the practical requirements around notice and documentation still apply.

[Cite: San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 37; Rent Board Rule 4.12]

A landlord using a banked increase must identify, in the notice itself, which portion of the increase reflects a banked amount and which years that banked amount is drawn from. Complete rent history documentation is generally necessary to support using a banked increase, since the Rent Board can require proof of what was and wasn't previously imposed.

[Cite: San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 37; Rent Board Rule 4.12]

The prior period's allowable increase, covering March 1, 2025 through February 28, 2026, was 1.4%. The 2026-2027 figure of 1.6% represents a modest increase over that prior period, consistent with the formula's direct tie to Bay Area CPI movement rather than a fixed year-over-year target.

[Cite: San Francisco Rent Board, 2025-2026 allowable increase]