Renting a Home in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

• You are about to sign a long-term lease in Portugal, as a new arrival or when moving house.
• A landlord or agent is asking for a guarantor, months of rent up front, or a large deposit.
• You already rent and face a rent rise, repairs, a withheld deposit, or notice to leave.

Not for you if: you are still choosing a city and want to know what rent and bills cost. Read Cost of Living in Portugal first.

Updated October 2026. INE has published the inflation figure that sets the 2027 rent rise: up to 2.56% on existing leases. The Government's rental law reform is before Parliament and is not yet law.

A long-term rental in Portugal runs on a written lease that names you and the landlord, with both tax numbers (NIF). The law caps what a landlord may take before you move in. That is the first month's rent, up to two more months in advance, and a deposit of up to two months: at most five months' rent. Rents on existing leases may rise once a year, by up to 2.24% in 2026 and 2.56% in 2027. The landlord must register the lease with the tax office (Finanças) and issue a receipt for every payment.

Which rules apply

A residential lease (contrato de arrendamento para habitação) follows the Civil Code and the urban lease law, known as the NRAU. This guide describes the law in force on 1 October 2026.

Holiday lets are different. In local accommodation (alojamento local) booked through a platform, you are a guest, not a tenant. Do not let a landlord keep you there long term to avoid giving you a lease.

What you need before you sign

Sort these out first, because you need some of them to get an address and an address to get others.

• A tax number (NIF). The lease and every rent receipt carry it. See Getting a NIF (Tax Number) in Portugal.
• Identification. A passport, EU identity card, Citizen Card, or residence permit.
• Proof of income. Payslips, a job contract, pension statements, or bank statements. Each landlord sets their own test.
• A Portuguese bank account. The law does not require one, but most landlords want rent by transfer. See Opening a Bank Account in Portugal.
• A guarantor (fiador), if the landlord asks. No law requires one. It is a private arrangement (see below).

Finding a home and checking it is genuine

Look for listings marked arrendamento (long-term rental), not férias (holiday). Estate agencies (mediadoras imobiliárias) must hold a licence from IMPIC, the property market regulator. You can check a licence for free on IMPIC's online search.

Before you pay anything, make three checks:

1. Confirm who owns the home. Ask for the property's tax record (caderneta predial), or buy a land registry certificate (certidão permanente do registo predial) online for €15. It names the owner and shows mortgages and pending registrations. The person signing should be the owner, or hold a written power of attorney.
2. Ask about the usage licence (licença de utilização). A home can only be let if the council has confirmed it is fit for that use, usually through this licence.
3. Ask for the energy certificate (certificado energético). It is compulsory for a new lease. The energy class must appear in every advert.

Treat these as warning signs of a scam:

• a deposit to "reserve" a home you have not seen;
• a landlord who is "abroad" and wants everything done remotely;
• a price far below others nearby;
• payment by money transfer service or cryptocurrency; and
• "no contract needed".

Never pay before you have seen the home and the owner's documents.

Mobilado means furnished. Não mobilado (unfurnished) can mean truly empty, even without kitchen appliances. T0, T1, T2, and so on give the number of bedrooms.

What the lease must say

The lease must be in writing. If there is no written lease and that is not your fault, you can still prove the lease exists. You show that you lived there without objection from the landlord and paid rent every month for six months.

Check that the lease covers these points:

• The parties: full names, NIFs, and addresses of the landlord (senhorio) and the tenant (arrendatário or inquilino).
• The home: address, floor, and the property's tax reference.
• The purpose: a permanent home (habitação permanente) or a non-permanent one. This affects your rights and your tax deduction.
• The length: a fixed term (prazo certo) or no fixed end (duração indeterminada). A fixed term runs from one year to 30 years. If the lease does not say, the law treats it as a five-year fixed term.
• The rent: the amount, the due date, the account to pay into, and how the rent is updated.
• The deposit and any advance rent, and when the deposit comes back.
• Bills and building charges: who pays water, electricity, gas, internet, and condominium charges.
• An inventory of contents and condition, with photos, signed by both of you.

Leases shorter than one year are allowed only for a non-permanent home or a stated temporary purpose, such as work, study, or tourism. They do not renew automatically unless the lease says so.

Bills and building charges. You and the landlord can agree who pays what, in writing. If the lease says nothing, you pay for the supplies to the home itself, such as electricity and water. The landlord pays the building's shared costs: running, maintaining, and using the common parts. Each bill should be in the name of the person who pays it.

Repairs. If the lease says nothing else, the landlord must carry out all maintenance work the law or the use of the home requires. You may only do works yourself if the lease allows it or the landlord agrees in writing. The exception is an urgent repair (see "Problems and disputes").

Deposit, advance rent, and guarantor

Two caps apply to every new lease:

• Advance rent (rendas antecipadas): at most two months, and only with a written agreement.
• Deposit (caução): at most two months' rent.

So on signing day the most a landlord can lawfully ask is the first month's rent, two months in advance, and a two-month deposit. Asking for six or twelve months up front goes beyond the caps.

The deposit stays with the landlord and earns no interest. It should come back at the end, less the cost of any damage beyond normal wear. Write a return date into the lease, and keep dated photos from the day you move in. Get a written receipt for every payment, even by transfer.

A guarantor (fiador) promises to pay if you do not. No law requires one. If you fall behind and do not pay within eight days, the landlord must tell your guarantor within the next 90 days. The landlord can only claim from the guarantor after that notice. If you have no guarantor, you can offer the full deposit and advance rent the law allows, or ask an insurer about rent guarantee cover.

Step by step: from viewing to keys

1. View the home in person and meet the owner or a licensed agent.
2. Check ownership and documents: the tax record or land registry certificate, the usage licence, and the energy certificate.
3. Read the draft lease line by line, with a Portuguese speaker if you need one. Check every point in "What the lease must say".
4. Agree the money in writing, within the legal caps, including any agency fee.
5. Do the inventory together on handover. Photograph every room, note the meter readings, and list the keys. You both sign and date it.
6. Pay by bank transfer, with "renda" and the month in the reference. Keep the lease, the inventory, and every message.

After you sign: registration, stamp duty, and receipts

The landlord registers the lease. The landlord must declare the lease to Finanças on the Portal das Finanças by the end of the month after it starts. The same deadline applies to changes and to the end of the lease. Ask for a copy of the confirmation. You will need it for your tax deduction and often for immigration paperwork.

If the landlord does not register it. Since 1 August 2025 you can tell Finanças yourself, once the landlord's deadline has passed. Use the Tenant's Communication (Comunicação do Locatário ou Sublocatário) on the Portal das Finanças. Attach a copy of the lease and proof of what you declare. It is optional and free.

Stamp duty (imposto do selo). Every lease carries stamp duty of 10% of one month's rent. It is the landlord's tax, paid when the lease is registered. A rent rise agreed by changing the lease pays 10% of the increase.

Electronic rent receipts (recibos de renda eletrónicos). For each payment, the landlord issues a receipt on the Portal das Finanças. It proves you paid and feeds your tax deduction. Two groups of landlords are exempt:

• Landlords who were 65 or over on 31 December of the previous year.
• Landlords who do not have, and do not need, an electronic tax mailbox, and whose rent in the previous year was no more than €1,074.26 (twice the social support index).

An exempt landlord who does not issue receipts must send Finanças a yearly rent declaration (Modelo 44) by the end of February. Ask for paper receipts in the meantime.

Bills in your name. Move electricity, gas, water, and internet into your name from the day you move in. See Setting Up Utilities in Portugal.

Your address. If you have no Citizen Card, tell Finanças your new address within 15 days. Residence permit holders tell AIMA within 60 days. See Changing Your Registered Address in Portugal.

What it costs at signing

How long the lease lasts and how it ends

Renewal. Unless the lease says otherwise, a fixed-term lease renews automatically when it ends. It renews for the same length, or for three years if the term was shorter. So a one-year lease, left alone, renews for three years.

Notice to stop a fixed-term lease renewing. Either side can stop the renewal by giving notice before the end of the term:

The three-year rule. If the landlord stops the first renewal, it only takes effect three years after the lease was signed. The exception is when the landlord needs the home to live in, or for a child to live in. In practice, a landlord cannot end a new one-year lease after twelve months just because the term is up.

Leaving early. Once one third of the term, or of the current renewal, has passed, you can leave at any time. Give 120 days' notice if the term is one year or more, or 60 days if it is shorter. If the landlord has already said the lease will not renew, you only need 30 days. The lease then ends at the end of a calendar month.

If you give too little notice, the lease still ends, but you owe rent for the missing notice period. You do not owe it if the cause was involuntary unemployment, permanent incapacity for work, or death. That covers you or someone who has lived with you for over a year.

Leases with no fixed end. After six months you can leave without giving a reason. Give 120 days' notice if you have lived there a year or more, or 60 days if less. The landlord can only end this kind of lease:

• to live in the home, or for a child to live in it, with at least six months' notice and a payment of one year's rent;
• for demolition or deep renovation that needs the home empty, with at least six months' notice and council documents, plus two years' rent or rehousing for three years or more; or
• with at least five years' notice.

How to send notice. Notices about ending the lease, rent updates, and works must be in writing and signed. Send them by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (carta registada com aviso de receção). You can also hand the letter over in person if the other side signs a copy as received. Email and messaging apps do not count. Send the landlord's letters to the address in the lease.

By agreement. You and the landlord can end the lease at any time, on any terms, if you both sign an agreement.

Rent increases: how much and when

You and the landlord can agree in the lease how the rent will be updated. If the lease says nothing, the default rule applies:

• the rent can rise once a year, by the official coefficient;
• the first rise can come one year after the lease starts, then one year after each rise;
• the landlord must tell you in writing at least 30 days before, with the coefficient and the new rent; and
• a skipped rise can be applied later, but only within three years of when it was first possible.

The official coefficient for 2026 is 1.0224, a maximum rise of 2.24%. On a €1,000 rent, that is €22.40 a month. For 2027, INE reported on 10 September 2026 that the reference inflation figure was 2.56%. That points to a coefficient of 1.0256. The official notice in the Diário da República had not been published when we checked on 1 October 2026. Check the Portal da Habitação's coefficients page before you accept or apply a 2027 rise.

New leases on homes let before. A rule from October 2023 limits the first rent on a new lease of a home let in the five years before 7 October 2023. The first rent cannot exceed the last rent plus 2%, plus yearly updates not applied in the last three years. Certified deep renovation can add up to 15% a year.

The cap does not apply below the official affordable rent limits for that size of home. Ask the landlord what the previous rent was. The Government has proposed ending this cap.

Late rent and when a landlord can end the lease

If you pay late, the landlord can claim the overdue rent plus 20% as compensation. That right disappears if you pay within eight days of the due date.

The landlord can end the lease for unpaid rent in two cases. One is three months or more of arrears. The other is paying over eight days late more than four times in twelve months. For three months of arrears, you can stop the termination by paying everything owed within one month. You can only do that once per lease.

The landlord can also ask a court to end the lease for other serious breaches. Examples are using the home for another purpose, subletting without consent, or ignoring building rules.

Eviction needs a decision. A landlord who wants you out must go through the courts or the Tenant and Landlord Counter (BAS), a Ministry of Justice service. Changing the locks, cutting off utilities, or threats are not lawful ways to end a lease.

Your rights and duties as a tenant

• Repairs. Structural problems, plumbing, wiring, and appliances that came with the home are the landlord's to fix, unless the lease says otherwise. Put repair requests in writing.
• Tell the landlord about problems. You must warn the landlord straight away about defects or dangers they may not know about.
• Right to buy first. If you have rented the home for more than two years and the landlord sells it, you can buy on the same terms. The landlord must write to you by registered letter with the price and conditions. You have 30 days from receipt to reply.
• Your duties. Pay the rent, use the home for its agreed purpose, look after it, allow inspection and urgent repairs, and return it at the end. Do not sublet or lend the home without the landlord's permission.

The tenant tax deduction

If you are tax resident in Portugal and the home is your permanent home, you can deduct 15% of the rent you paid from your income tax (IRS). The cap depends on the year:

Higher caps apply if your taxable income is low. The deduction only works if the lease is registered and the rent appears on electronic receipts, or on the exempt landlord's yearly declaration. The figures then appear in your pre-filled tax return. See Filing Your IRS Income Tax Return in Portugal.

Problems and disputes

No receipts, or the lease is not registered. Ask the landlord in writing. If nothing happens after the registration deadline, file the Tenant's Communication on the Portal das Finanças. Keep paying by transfer with a clear reference.

The deposit is not returned. Write to the landlord by registered letter, with your move-in and move-out photos, and set a deadline. If that fails, take the claim to a Julgado de Paz, a small claims court. These courts hear claims up to €15,000, including unpaid deposits and damage. The fee is €70, paid at the end by the losing side. If you settle through their mediation, the fee is €50 in total (€25 each). You do not normally need a lawyer. Julgados de Paz do not hear evictions.

Repairs are ignored. Write by registered letter with a reasonable deadline. If the landlord is late with a repair that is too urgent to wait for a court, you can have it done and claim the cost back. If it cannot wait at all, you can do it straight away, as long as you tell the landlord at the same time. Keep every invoice.

An unlawful rent rise. If the rise is above the coefficient, or came without 30 days' written notice, reply in writing. Say you will keep paying the current rent.

Papers from the BAS. The BAS handles the special eviction procedure and rent injunctions. If you receive papers from it, answer within the deadline stated. Ignoring them leads to a fast eviction order. Tenants in financial difficulty can ask for the protections set out for vulnerable tenants.

What may change: the rental law reform

On 9 July 2026 the Council of Ministers approved a bill to revise the rental rules. As of 1 October 2026 it is still before Parliament and none of it is law. The Government says it will:

• end the limits on rent between one lease and the next;
• make the rules on deposits and advance rent more flexible;
• simplify how landlords and tenants communicate;
• speed up evictions and dispute resolution; and
• strengthen protection for older people, people with disabilities, and households on low incomes.

If you sign a lease before any change takes effect, today's rules govern it unless a new law says otherwise. We will update this guide when the final text is published.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; check the official source before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Civil Code, consolidated (articles 1036, 1038, 1041, 1069, 1070, 1074, 1076, 1077, 1078, 1083, 1084, 1091, 1094 to 1098, 1100 to 1103): https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=775&tabela=leis (written lease and six-month proof, usage licence, repairs, caps on advance rent and deposit, rent update rules, bills and building charges, grounds for termination and cure, right to buy first, terms, renewal, notice periods, three-year rule, early exit, indefinite leases, landlord's own use and renovation, guarantor notice, 20% late payment compensation), checked 1 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, urban lease law (NRAU), Lei n.º 6/2006, consolidated (articles 9 and 15): https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=691&tabela=leis (registered letter or signed hand delivery, special eviction procedure), checked 1 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Lei n.º 56/2023 (Mais Habitação), article 34: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?artigo_id=3709A0034&nid=3709&tabela=leis&pagina=1&ficha=1&so_miolo=&nversao= (first rent on new leases of homes let in the previous five years), checked 1 October 2026
• Diário da República, Lei n.º 6/2006 (NRAU): https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/lei/6-2006-693853
• Diário da República, Aviso n.º 23174/2025/2, of 19 September: https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/aviso/23174-2025-935742337 (2026 coefficient of 1.0224)
• Portal da Habitação, rent update coefficients: https://www.portaldahabitacao.pt/coeficientes-de-atualizacao-de-rendas (1.0224 for 2026; no 2027 figure yet), checked 1 October 2026
• INE, Consumer Price Index, August 2026 (10 September 2026): https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_destaques&DESTAQUESdest_boui=770565181&DESTAQUESmodo=2&xlang=pt (12-month average CPI excluding housing of 2.56%, the reference for 2027 rent updates), checked 1 October 2026
• Portal das Finanças, stamp duty FAQs on leases: https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/apoio_contribuinte/questoes_frequentes/Pages/faqs-00033.aspx (registration by the end of the following month, who declares, payment), checked 1 October 2026
• Portal das Finanças, Stamp Duty Code and General Table: https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/codigos_tributarios/Cod_download/Documents/CIS.pdf (10% on one month's rent or the agreed increase), checked 1 October 2026
• Diário da República, Portaria n.º 106/2025/1, of 13 March: https://files.diariodarepublica.pt/1s/2025/03/05100/0001100019.pdf (Tenant's Communication, optional, after the landlord's deadline, from 1 August 2025), checked 1 October 2026
• Portal das Finanças, IRS Code article 78-E: https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/codigos_tributarios/cirs_rep/Pages/irs78e.aspx (15% deduction, €900 for 2026 and €1,000 from 2027 under Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026, phased caps, higher caps for low incomes, receipts), checked 1 October 2026
• Portal das Finanças, frequently asked questions on rent: https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/apoio_contribuinte/questoes_frequentes/pages/faqs-00358.aspx (receipt exemptions, Modelo 44 by the end of February), carried from verified guide W03, checked September 2026
• Directorate-General for the Administration of Justice, BAS: https://dgaj.justica.gov.pt/Noticias-da-DGAJ/Balcao-do-Arrendatario-e-do-Senhorio-BAS-entra-em-funcionamento (BAS since 16 February 2024, eviction and injunction procedures, protection for vulnerable tenants under Portaria n.º 50/2024), checked 1 October 2026
• Conselho dos Julgados de Paz, information: https://www.conselhodosjulgadosdepaz.com.pt/informacao.asp (€15,000 limit, €70 fee, €50 mediation, evictions excluded), checked 1 October 2026
• IRN, Predial Online, permanent certificate: https://www.predialonline.pt/PredialOnline/docs/Pedido_Certidao_Online.pdf (€15 online), checked 1 October 2026
• gov.pt, search for a licensed estate agency: https://www.gov.pt/servicos/pesquisar-uma-empresa-de-mediacao-imobiliaria (free IMPIC search), checked 1 October 2026
• SCE (energy certification system), FAQs: https://www.sce.pt/perguntas-frequentes/ (certificate required for leases, energy class in adverts), checked 1 October 2026
• Government of Portugal, Council of Ministers communiqué of 9 July 2026: https://portugal.gov.pt/gc25/governo/comunicados-do-conselho-de-ministros/comunicado-do-conselho-de-ministros-de-9-de-julho-de-2026-1 (rental reform bill and its aims), checked 1 October 2026
• Portal das Finanças, Morada: https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/apoio_ao_contribuinte/Cidadaos/Dados_pessoais_familia/Dados_pessoais/Morada/Paginas/default.aspx (15-day deadline to update your tax address; carried from verified guide W21), checked 24 September 2026
• gov.pt, Alterar a morada do Cartão de Cidadão: https://www.gov.pt/servicos/alterar-a-morada-do-cartao-de-cidadao (60-day deadline to update your address; carried from verified guide W21), checked 24 September 2026

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.