Rent Increases in Portugal: Limits, Deadlines, and Legislation

Rent increases in Portugal are strictly regulated by the State as a way of guaranteeing housing affordability and preventing abuse by owners. Currently, legislation surrounding new measures driven by the "Mais Habitação" Law has also temporarily affected adjustments to older lease contracts.

Disclaimer: This guide provides general legal information for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Landlord-tenant laws change frequently. Always consult a licensed attorney in Portugal for advice specific to your situation. Information last verified: March 2026.

The Annual Update Coefficient (INE)

For conventional housing properties in Portugal (under the New Urban Lease Regime - NRAU), rent adjustments are bound, as a general rule, to the annual inflation coefficient stipulated by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The Portuguese Government publishes this number in the Diário da República every year (referring to the subsequent year), usually around the end of October.

Whenever the registered inflation is very high or anomalous, the Portuguese government has direct authority with laws to actively cap this limit, in order to curb exorbitant price spikes and speculation.

When and How the Increase is Applied

The first rent increase can only intervene after a contract celebrates an exact one (1) year in continuous force. For future years, successive increases apply exactly twelve months after the precursor increase.

Required Notification (Advance Notice): The landlord must notify, unequivocally, by registered letter or means with documented receipt, in an interval equal to or no less than 30 days prior to the rent suffering the official impact. The communication must specify the current INE metric and the new math for the monthly fee calculated after the increase.

Exceptional Cases: Limits of the "Mais Habitação"

Launched in a robust program outlined in Law No. 56/2023 that framed modern Portuguese housing strategies, certain prohibitions fell on landlords in new and repeating contracts, severely limiting steep escalations when nominally changing to new Tenants, as well as when transitioning to the annual cycle of certain inflation numbers.

The basic barrier of this system forced severe limitations by artificially imposing a legislative limit on the increase of the new rental designation at 2% in the current year if the accommodations were under old contracts transacted by the owner in their sphere during the previous 5 years of leasing history. It is highly recommended that landlords navigating these complex branches only rely on the formulas provided by the legal framework tools or direct counsel, considering the end of the temporal retrospective application stipulated.

If the landlord did not proceed with the increase in a historical or multi-year path of up to 3 past years, they are legally able to update in a cumulative way (thus adding the published metrics in the absence of those 3 years to their new and final rent).

Landager maintains an updated module of Portuguese INE coefficients, offering automated features to legally notify both landlords or tenants in a timely manner, given the requirements imposed to formalize rent increases or government exemptions under the cap of the Portuguese national urban lease law.

Back to Portugal Landlord-Tenant Laws Overview.