Maximum rents in the rent-controlled housing sector will rise next year despite the government’s promise to freeze them.

The announcement came from housing minister Stef Blok who said the maximum rent will rise from €699 a month to €710, broadcaster Nos reports.

Blok said it is still the government’s intention to freeze rents for a three-year period but that the freeze will not now begin in 2015, as originally planned, but in 2016.

Strict income requirements apply to rent-controlled property and the government has been allowing landlords to increase rents by more than inflation for wealthier tenants to encourage them to move.