Key figures — as of 2026-09-09: Moderate-rent ceiling for 2026 set at €2,300/month (2.5× the national minimum wage) — landlords in qualifying contracts pay a flat 10% IRS rate instead of the standard rate, or 0% (full IRS/IRC/Stamp Duty exemption) under the RSAA if rent stays below 80% of the municipal median — both the RSAA and CIA regimes entered into force 1 September 2026, but the ministerial order (portaria) setting exact rent caps by property type, and the IHRU platform to register contracts, were still not live as of 8 September 2026.
Two new rental instruments, one launch date
From 1 September, Portugal formally replaced its old Programa de Apoio ao Arrendamento with two new tools created under Decree-Law 97/2026 of 20 May: the Regime Simplificado de Arrendamento Acessível (RSAA) for individual landlords, and Contratos de Investimento para Arrendamento (CIA) for institutional investors and developers. The rental market entered a new phase with the RSAA replacing the previous rental support programme, while a second instrument, the CIA, began applying to developers and investors with larger-scale projects, both stemming from the housing tax package approved in May.
The government has also retired the old "accessible rent" label in favour of a new legal category. The government decided to end the concept of "renda acessível" and create that of "renda moderada" (moderate rent) instead. For foreigners letting out a Portuguese property, or renting one, that's more than semantics — "moderate rent" now has a precise euro figure and a tax rate attached to it.
The €2,300 threshold and the 10% rate
The moderate monthly rent threshold for 2026 is set at €2,300, corresponding to 2.5 times the national minimum wage. Any residential lease priced at or below that figure can, if the other conditions are met, qualify for the reduced flat rate. Rental income from qualifying residential leases with a moderate rent can be taxed at a special 10% autonomous IRS rate, provided the relevant conditions are met, running until the end of 2029.
Landlords who go a step further and register on the dedicated IHRU platform under the RSAA can do even better than 10%. The RSAA replaces the old accessible rental programme and grants full exemption from IRS, IRC and Stamp Duty on rental income, with no value ceiling. The trade-off is a tighter rent cap tied to local data rather than the flat national figure: the rent must sit below 80% of the median rent per square metre for the municipality according to INE data, with minimum durations of three years for permanent housing and three months for the temporary modality.
For bigger players — developers, funds, build-to-rent operators — the CIA route offers a longer horizon. The CIA follows a different logic, aimed at developers and institutional investors rather than individuals with a single property, requiring a direct contract with IHRU to guarantee benefits over a 25-year period. Investors committing to long-term moderate-rent projects can receive exemptions from IMT, Stamp Duty and IMI, together with a 50% reduction in IMI after the initial exemption period.
GrowIN's calculation: what 10% actually means in euros
Rental income (Category F) in Portugal is normally taxed at a flat 28% rate for individuals who don't opt to aggregate it with other income. Take a foreign landlord letting an apartment at €1,500/month — €18,000 a year. At the standard 28% rate, that's €5,040 in IRS. Move that same contract into the new moderate-rent bracket at 10%, and the bill drops to €1,800 — a saving of €3,240 a year, or roughly €270 a month, simply for pricing the lease inside the €2,300 ceiling and doing the paperwork correctly. Qualify instead for full RSAA exemption, and the entire €5,040 disappears. That gap is precisely the incentive the government is betting will pull long-vacant properties back onto the rental market.
"Portugal's housing package finally gives 'moderate rent' a formal price tag — and a tax break attached to it," notes GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
The catch: no platform, no benefit
None of this is automatic. The contract must be registered on the dedicated platform run by the housing institute, which communicates automatically with the tax authority — registration is the door: no platform, no exemption. And the risk of getting it wrong is real: if the requirements cease to be met, the benefit is lost with retroactive effect, meaning previously exempt rents become taxable, with interest.
That matters right now because the mechanics aren't fully switched on yet. As of this week, the RSAA entered into force on 1 September but the regulation essential to its application — namely the ministerial order defining maximum rent limits by property type — was still awaiting publication. The electronic platform on the Portal da Habitação, managed by IHRU, where landlords and prospective tenants can register for the RSAA, was also not yet active. Anyone rushing to sign a "moderate rent" lease this month should treat the reduced 10% rate as available now, but the full RSAA exemption as pending the missing paperwork.
What it means for tenants
For renters, including foreigners on lower or mid-range budgets, the direct benefit is smaller. The annual limit for tenants to deduct rent from their IRS increases to €900 in 2026 and €1,000 from 2027. It's a modest offset against Lisbon and Porto rents that routinely exceed the €2,300 ceiling anyway — but it does give tenants in more affordable regions a real, if incremental, tax deduction they didn't have before.
There's also a knock-on effect for foreign buyers. Non-residents already face a flat 7.5% IMT on purchases, a rule GrowIN has covered in our tax and NIF hub, but that rate can be reduced if the buyer commits the property to moderate-rent letting within six months and keeps it leased for at least 36 consecutive months — effectively rewarding non-residents who buy to rent affordably rather than to flip or leave vacant.
What to watch next
The immediate thing to track is the missing portaria setting exact rent caps by property type and municipality, plus activation of the IHRU registration platform — without both, the RSAA exists on paper more than in practice. Landlords weighing whether to convert an existing lease, or list a currently vacant property, should get the numbers checked against their specific concelho's median rent before assuming eligibility. GrowIN's tax team can help run that comparison and handle registration once the platform opens — see our services page for details.
The regimes are new, the rent ceilings are moving targets tied to INE data, and losing eligibility mid-contract carries real financial consequences. Anyone renting out — or renting — property in Portugal this autumn should treat 1 September as the start of a new set of rules, not the finished product.