Your next rental in Portugal could be very different

Lisbon's rental rules are a step closer to changing. It's Wednesday, 7 October. Twenty-four degrees. Air quality: 55 (Moderate). Here's what you need to know.

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THE NEW RENTAL LAW HAS CLEARED ITS FIRST VOTE

The government's rewrite of the rental law passed its first vote in parliament last Wednesday, 30 September. Yesterday, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro made it clear it won't be bargained away in budget talks. Nothing changes for tenants or landlords yet, but this is the furthest the reform has got.

It passed with votes from the PSD and CDS-PP, the two governing parties, and the Liberal Initiative. The hard-right Chega abstained after signing a deal with the PSD, and every other party, including the PS, the Socialist Party, voted against.

As the government's text stands, landlords could start eviction proceedings after two months of unpaid rent instead of three. The 2% cap on rent rises when a home is let to a new tenant would go. So would the two-month limit on deposits, and landlords could ask for up to three months' rent in advance. The reform also changes the rules for older contracts, many of them on very low rents.

Chega's deal commits the PSD to four changes at the committee stage: tighter limits on advance rent and deposits than the government proposed; a distinction between tenants who deliberately and repeatedly don't pay, who would face quick eviction, and those who genuinely can't keep up after very steep rent rises; more social support, including a stronger housing emergency fund; and protection for lower-income tenants on older contracts, who would only face the standard annual rent update. The deal doesn't touch the end of the 2% cap.

The politics haven't settled. On Monday, PS leader José Luís Carneiro demanded the government drop its deal with Chega, saying the law leaves older and younger tenants in "severe insecurity". Speaking in Strasbourg yesterday, Montenegro said that demand has nothing to do with the PS's abstention on the budget, and that the government will talk to parties that want the law to pass. The government argues the reform balances access to housing with more supply to bring prices down.

The market it would land in is already shifting, and tax is part of the reason. €2,300 a month is the government's "moderate rent" ceiling: since this year, landlords charging up to that amount pay 10% tax on their rental income instead of 25%, on new and existing contracts, until the end of 2029. The break is designed to pull rents under that line. New figures from idealista, the property portal, show homes listed at up to €2,300 make up 88% of rental listings analysed, and the number on offer is up 13% on last year. But they're getting smaller: about 12% smaller on average, with one-bedroom flats taking a bigger share.

If you rent or are about to sign a lease, the current rules still apply, including the 2% cap and today's limits on deposits and advance rent. The details that matter most to tenants will be settled in committee, and there's no date yet for the final vote.

Bottom line: the rental rewrite is moving, but deposits, advance rent and evictions are still up for negotiation.

⚡ QUICK HITS

Environmental groups want limits on how much Tejo water two planned data centres can use. The environmental group Quercus and the river campaign group proTEJO are calling for a combined environmental impact study of two large data centres planned in Abrantes, upriver in the Médio Tejo region: EDC One, a €7 billion project due to open in 2028, and Hyperion II, due in 2029. proTEJO estimates the pair could use between 3.6 and 22.2 million litres of water a day, depending on cooling technology the developers haven't yet disclosed. It wants binding caps on water and energy use, and points to the Portuguese Environment Agency's forecast of worsening scarcity in the Tejo basin from 2028 to 2033. The pressure is part of a wider boom: consultancy Rystad Energy expects Portugal's data-centre capacity to grow faster than any other European country's, passing 1 gigawatt by 2030.

Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have both raised their bids for a stake in TAP. Parpública, the state holding company that controls the airline, confirmed last week that it had received improved binding offers from both groups. They're competing for up to 44.9% of TAP, with another 5% reserved for staff. According to Bloomberg, both offers are now above €1 billion. Neither the airlines nor the government have said how much that is up on July's offers, which the government described as very close. Industry estimates have put the stake's value at €800 million to €1 billion. Air France-KLM's bid also includes an option to pay in its own shares if Portugal later sells more of TAP. The government is expected to name its preferred bidder by 15 October.

Montenegro told the European Parliament the next EU budget is not a "begging contest". Speaking in Strasbourg yesterday, the Prime Minister said the 2028–2034 budget must fund new priorities without putting at risk the cohesion funding that helps poorer regions catch up. He argued that, relative to the size of its economy, Portugal pays more into the EU than the "frugal" states pushing for cuts, Austria aside. "Giving 10 out of 100 is much more than giving 50 out of 1,000," he said. He also called for a coordinated European response to the cost of living, including looking at how international oil prices are set. He backed a second term for António Costa, Portugal's former prime minister, as President of the European Council.

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🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

MARISQUEIRA DO PATEO (AMOREIRAS)

For years, lobster à basca was the signature dish at Nunes Real Marisqueira, one of Lisbon's best-known seafood houses. Manuel Costa cooked there for 24 years, then opened this place last summer with co-owner Manuel Ribeiro, in the Pátio Bagatela courtyard near Amoreiras, well off the tourist trail. He brought the dish with him and gave it a more affordable twin: lulas à basca, his take on the classic made with squid and served with chips and a fried egg. It's one of the most-ordered dishes in the house, and the lobster version is still on the menu for big nights.

The rest reads like a proper Lisbon marisqueira. You walk in past a counter piled with carabineiros, the big scarlet prawns, Espinho prawns, brown crab and percebes, the goose barnacles, and there's an aquarium of live lobsters in the middle of the room. Beyond the shellfish there's charcoal-grilled sea bass, grouper à basca and squid and prawn skewers, and reviewers single out the açorda, a rich bread stew, made with prawns and lobster. Meat eaters get pica-pau, bite-sized pieces of beef, with crisp sliced chips. There's a terrace for around 60.

Worth knowing before you go: the average bill is around €29 a head, but shellfish is priced by the kilo, and Ribeiro says a seafood feast can run to €100 to €200. Ask what a portion weighs before it goes in the pot. It's open Monday to Saturday from noon until late, and closed on Sundays.

→ Find them here ←

Insider tip: do as Lisbon does and finish a seafood feast with a prego, a steak sandwich, instead of dessert. Here you can also have it with lobster.

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