Key figures — as of 2026-10-06: Parliament approved the rental reform bill "in the generalidade" (first reading) on 30 September 2026 — PSD, IL and CDS-PP voted in favour, Chega abstained, all left-wing parties voted against — eviction proceedings for unpaid rent move from a 3-month to a 2-month arrears trigger; the 2% annual rent-increase cap on new leases ends, three years ahead of its original 2029 sunset; tenants who pay 8+ days late three times in a year (or four times in 18 months) can also face eviction; the bill still needs a specialty debate and final global vote before becoming law.
What actually changed on 30 September
Portugal's parliament gave the green light, in general terms, to the government's rewrite of the Novo Regime do Arrendamento Urbano — the law governing most rental contracts. The general outline of the reform was approved thanks to the abstention of the far-right party Chega, while all of the left-wing parties voted against. That abstention wasn't free: Chega struck a written deal with the governing PSD to soften some provisions — limiting how far advance-rent and deposit demands can go, and adding protection for elderly tenants on pre-1990 contracts — before the final text is locked in.
For foreigners already renting, or weighing a move to Lisbon, Porto or the Algarve, two numbers matter most. The reform would speed up evictions by cutting the rent arrears threshold from three months to two months and allowing landlords to evict tenants who repeatedly pay their rent more than eight days late. And on new contracts, one of the most significant measures is the removal of the 2% cap on rent increases for new tenancy agreements, bringing this change forward by three years compared to the previously set deadline of 2029, with rents now to "be freely set by the parties."
Why the government says it's doing this
Housing Minister Miguel Pinto Luz has framed the package around giving landlords confidence to re-enter the market. The government says more than 250,000 homes remain empty because legal uncertainty discourages owners from renting them out. The backdrop is stark: Portugal faces one of Europe's worst housing crises, with rents for new leases nearly doubling since 2017 and becoming unaffordable for many households.
Tenant groups aren't convinced the fix helps renters. The head of the Lisbon Tenants' Association called the reform "sheer savagery," arguing it would "further skew the rental market in favour of landlords" and only push rents higher rather than ease the affordability crisis. He also pushed back on the eviction-speed argument itself, dismissing the government's plans to speed up evictions as "pure opportunism," saying cases of tenants defaulting on rent are negligible.
GrowIN's read: the grace period shrinks by a third
Here's the number that doesn't show up in the political coverage. Cutting the arrears trigger from three unpaid months to two isn't a cosmetic tweak — it removes one-third of the financial runway a tenant currently has before a landlord can start formal eviction proceedings. For a foreign tenant on, say, a €1,200/month flat, that's the difference between accumulating €3,600 in arrears before risk kicks in versus €2,400 — a full month's rent less cushion if a transfer from abroad is delayed, a freelance invoice runs late, or a bank account freeze (not unusual for non-residents setting up Portuguese banking) eats into a pay cycle.
"For foreign renters without a local safety net, this reform compresses the margin for error from three missed payments to two — and that margin matters most in the first year of relocation," says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
What's still open
This is not law yet. The bill now moves to specialty committee debate, then a final global vote, before the government can issue the implementing decree-law — and publication in Diário da República is expected only after the 2027 State Budget debate wraps up. Nothing changes for contracts signed today, and the deposit and advance-rent provisions (originally proposed at three months' advance rent and no deposit ceiling, versus today's two-month limits) are among the clauses Chega has already flagged for amendment.
What to watch
Three things will decide how this lands for foreigners: whether the specialty debate restores any cap on deposits and advance rent, whether the 2% cap removal applies only to new leases or bleeds into renewals of existing ones, and the exact commencement date once the decree-law is published. Anyone currently house-hunting or renewing a lease in Portugal should treat the current rules as still in force and get any contract terms confirmed in writing before signing — our relocation guide covers what to check in a Portuguese rental contract before you commit.
Landlords and tenants alike should expect more amendments before this becomes binding law, and anyone with an active lease dispute should get independent legal advice rather than assume the new thresholds already apply.