# Portugal Rental Law Overhaul Passed: Faster Evictions, No Deposit Cap

> Parliament's September 30 NRAU vote cuts the eviction threshold to two months' arrears and lifts the deposit cap — what it means for foreign renters and landlords.

- Source: https://www.growinportugal.com/news/portugal-s-parliament-approves-overhaul-of-rental-law-faster-2026-10-11
- Publisher: GrowIN Portugal (https://www.growinportugal.com)
- Published: 2026-10-11
- Last reviewed: 2026-10-11
- Language: en

> **Key figures — as of 2026-10-11:** Parliament approved the NRAU overhaul in a first reading on **30 September 2026**, with PSD, IL and CDS-PP in favour, Chega abstaining, and PS, Livre, PCP, PAN, JPP and BE voting against — eviction threshold for unpaid rent cut from **3 months to 2 months**; security deposit cap (currently 2 months' rent) **removed entirely**; advance rent payments allowed up to **3 months** (up from 2); the 2% cap on rent increases for new leases **scrapped**.

## What actually passed on September 30

Portugal's parliament voted on Wednesday 30 September to approve, in a first reading, a government proposal to rewrite large parts of the Novo Regime do Arrendamento Urbano (NRAU) — the law governing residential leases. Votes in favour came from PSD, IL and CDS-PP, with Chega abstaining, and PS, Livre, PCP, PAN, JPP and BE voting against. That abstention mattered: it gave the minority centre-right government the numbers it needed, and it came with strings attached. Chega's abstention was tied to a written agreement with PSD to amend the text at committee stage — capping advance rents and deposits, protecting elderly tenants in pre-1990 contracts with compensation for landlords, and reinforcing social support and a housing emergency fund.

That last point matters for anyone reading headlines about "uncapped deposits": this is not yet final law. As of early October the reform is approved only "na generalidade" — in general terms — and is not yet in force. It still has to survive detailed committee negotiation ("especialidade") and a final global vote, where Chega has already signalled it wants the deposit and advance-rent provisions softened.

## The substance: evictions, deposits, rent caps

Three changes will land directly on foreign renters and landlords if the text survives as drafted. 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. The process itself also gets shorter: eviction cases are meant to become simpler, with appeals having merely suspensive effect on enforcement rather than halting it.

On money upfront, the current rulebook caps both the security deposit and advance rent at two months each — that ceiling disappears for deposits, and advance rent rises to three months. The deposit a landlord can demand is currently limited to two months' rent, but under the proposal it could be set at whatever value the landlord chooses, with no statutory cap. The reform would also end the 2% cap on rent increases for properties re-let within the previous five years. Pre-1990 contracts get their own, separate treatment: tenants over 65 keep their old-regime contract unless household income exceeds €64,400 a year, in which case rent is updated to 1/15 of the property's tax value.

The government's justification is a supply argument: officials say more than 250,000 homes sit empty because legal uncertainty deters owners from renting them out. Tenant groups reject that framing outright. António Machado, head of the Lisbon Tenants' Association, called the proposal "sheer savagery," arguing it would skew the market toward landlords and push rents higher rather than ease the affordability crisis. The contrast with Portugal's neighbour has been widely noted: Spain's government moved in the opposite direction the same week, decreeing a ban on evicting vulnerable tenants until 2030.

## What it means if you're renting or buying in Portugal

For foreign tenants currently house-hunting, the practical risk is cash at signing, not legal jeopardy — provided you pay on time. Here's GrowIN's own back-of-envelope: under today's caps, a €1,500/month Lisbon flat can legally demand at most two months' deposit plus two months' advance rent — €6,000 up front. If the uncapped-deposit version survives committee and a landlord asks for, say, six months' deposit plus three months' advance, that same flat could require €13,500 at signing — a 125% jump in the cash a tenant needs before getting the keys. Whether that actually happens depends heavily on what Chega negotiates into the final text, so treat this as an illustration of the exposure, not a prediction.

For landlords — including the growing number of foreign buy-to-let owners — faster recovery of a non-paying tenant and freedom to reprice new leases are clear positives, though nothing here should be read as a guarantee the final law matches this draft. For anyone buying a property that already has a sitting tenant, due diligence just got more important: check the contract's start date, rent level and whether it predates 1990, because the transition rules — and who can end a lease and on what timeline — will shape what you actually acquire. Our [relocation guide](/relocation/) covers the broader practicalities of settling into a rented or purchased home in Portugal.

**"A first-reading vote on September 30 moves Portugal's rental law from the drafting table toward the statute book, but the deposit figure everyone is quoting is still a moving target,"** says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.

## What to watch next

The committee-stage ("especialidade") debate is where the real numbers get fixed — watch for whether Chega succeeds in re-capping deposits and advance rent, and for the final text's treatment of pre-1990 leases. Until a decree-law is published, landlords and tenants are still operating under the existing NRAU caps: two months' deposit, two months' advance rent, and a three-month arrears threshold for eviction. Anyone with a lease renewal, a new tenancy, or a purchase involving a tenant in place should hold off on assuming the new rules apply and get current advice before signing anything.

## Sources

- [Reuters (via US News)](https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-09-30/portugal-parliament-backs-swifter-evictions-end-of-rent-caps)
- [ECO Sapo](https://eco.sapo.pt/2026/09/30/o-que-une-e-separa-governo-e-oposicao-na-lei-do-arrendamento/)
- [Rádio Renascença](https://rr.pt/noticia/politica/2026/09/30/lei-das-rendas-psd-e-chega-assinam-acordo-para-alterar-proposta-do-governo/487440/)
- [idealista/news](https://www.idealista.pt/news/imobiliario/habitacao/2026/07/09/76494-despejos-novos-contratos-e-rendas-antigas-o-que-muda-no-arrendamento)

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© GrowIN Portugal. Cite as: GrowIN Portugal, "Portugal Rental Law Overhaul Passed: Faster Evictions, No Deposit Cap", https://www.growinportugal.com/news/portugal-s-parliament-approves-overhaul-of-rental-law-faster-2026-10-11