company has a contingent liability relating to proper disposition of these balances , which amounted to $ 1926.8 mil- lion at december 31 , 2007 . as a result of holding these customers 2019 assets in escrow , the company has ongoing programs for realizing economic benefits during the year through favorable borrowing and vendor arrangements with various banks . there were no loans outstanding as of december 31 , 2007 and these balances were invested in short term , high grade investments that minimize the risk to principal . leases the company leases certain of its property under leases which expire at various dates . several of these agreements include escalation clauses and provide for purchases and renewal options for periods ranging from one to five years . future minimum operating lease payments for leases with remaining terms greater than one year for each of the years in the five years ending december 31 , 2012 , and thereafter in the aggregate , are as follows ( in thousands ) : .

1	2008	83382
2	2009	63060
3	2010	35269
4	2011	21598
5	2012	14860
6	thereafter	30869
7	total	$ 249038

in addition , the company has operating lease commitments relating to office equipment and computer hardware with annual lease payments of approximately $ 16.0 million per year which renew on a short-term basis . rent expense incurred under all operating leases during the years ended december 31 , 2007 , 2006 and 2005 was $ 106.4 million , $ 81.5 million and $ 61.1 million , respectively . data processing and maintenance services agreements . the company has agreements with various vendors , which expire between 2008 and 2017 , for portions of its computer data processing operations and related functions . the company 2019s estimated aggregate contractual obligation remaining under these agreements was approximately $ 888.3 million as of december 31 , 2007 . however , this amount could be more or less depending on various factors such as the inflation rate , the introduction of significant new technologies , or changes in the company 2019s data processing needs . ( 17 ) employee benefit plans stock purchase plan prior to the certegy merger ( note 6 ) , fis employees participated in the fidelity national financial , inc . employee stock purchase plan ( espp ) . subsequent to the certegy merger , the company instituted its own plan with the same terms as the fidelity national financial , inc . plan . under the terms of both plans and subsequent amendments , eligible employees may voluntarily purchase , at current market prices , shares of fnf 2019s ( prior to the certegy merger ) or fis 2019s ( post certegy merger ) common stock through payroll deductions . pursuant to the espp , employees may contribute an amount between 3% ( 3 % ) and 15% ( 15 % ) of their base salary and certain commissions . shares purchased are allocated to employees based upon their contributions . the company contributes varying matching amounts as specified in the espp . the company recorded an expense of $ 15.2 million , $ 13.1 million and $ 11.1 million , respectively , for the years ended december 31 , 2007 , 2006 and 2005 relating to the participation of fis employees in the espp . fidelity national information services , inc . and subsidiaries and affiliates notes to consolidated and combined financial statements 2014 ( continued ) .

Previous questions in this conversation: what was the rent expense in 2007? and what was it in 2006?
Previous answers: 106.4 81.5
Question: what was, then, the change over the year?
Answer: 24.9