Rental indices lag the market by design. If your renewal lands this quarter, the index is not the whole conversation.
Renewal notices in The Springs and The Meadows are landing now, and the questions we field are all versions of the same one: is this increase fair?
The rental index is the starting point, not the answer. It is built on registered contracts, which means it reflects where the market was when those contracts were signed — typically some months back. In a flat quarter that hardly matters. In a moving one it matters a great deal.
What we advise tenants to do is straightforward. Gather three or four genuinely comparable current listings — same type, same sub-community, same condition — and put them alongside the index figure. If they diverge, you have a conversation rather than an argument.
The second thing worth knowing is that landlords in these communities are, on the whole, sensitive to void periods. A month empty costs more than most of the increases being disputed. That is leverage, and it is best used politely and early rather than in the final week of the notice period.
Finally: if you intend to leave, say so early. The stock that suits you will be gone by the time your notice expires.