Renting in Portugal: lease types, deposits and your obligations

In short: A Portuguese home rental is either fixed-term (prazo certo, at least one year — art. 1095 of the Código Civil) or open-ended (duração indeterminada), and if the contract is silent the law reads it as fixed-term for five years (art. 1094). Since the Mais Habitação reform (Lei n.º 56/2023) the caução (security deposit) and any advance rent are each capped at two months (art. 1076). Rent can normally be updated once a year by the official coefficient — 1.0224 for 2026 — with 30 days' written notice (art. 1077). Both sides carry legal duties: broadly, the landlord repairs and the tenant maintains. CourtStairs answers Portuguese housing questions like these in plain language, with citations to the Diário da República so you can read the article yourself.

Renting is one of the areas where a signature commits you to a lot of law you never see. The framework is the NRAU (Lei n.º 6/2006) sitting on top of the Código Civil, rebalanced toward tenant stability by Lei 13/2019 and reshaped again on the money side by Mais Habitação. This is general information, not legal advice, and figures change, so confirm anything important against the primary source or a lawyer.

What are the two types of rental lease in Portugal?

A Portuguese residential lease is either fixed-term (prazo certo) or open-ended (duração indeterminada), and if the contract is silent about duration the law treats it as fixed-term for five years. Under art. 1094 of the Código Civil a residential lease is celebrated either with a fixed term or for an indefinite duration. The choice matters, because it decides how — and how easily — either side can bring the contract to an end. A fixed-term lease has hard limits: art. 1095 says the term cannot be less than one year nor more than 30 years, and a figure outside that range is automatically pulled back inside it. A genuinely transitory let, for a short-term professional or study need, is the main exception to the one-year floor.

A fixed-term contract renews automatically for successive periods of equal length (art. 1096) unless one side gives written notice opposing renewal. Even then, tenant protection is layered on: a landlord's opposition to the first renewal only takes effect three years after the contract began (art. 1097), so a one-year lease still buys roughly three years of stability. Whichever type you sign, ending it early or declining renewal is a formal act — a written communication, in practice a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, sent with the right notice.

How much deposit and advance rent can a landlord ask for?

Since the Mais Habitação reform, both the security deposit (caução) and any advance rent are each capped at the equivalent of two months' rent (art. 1076). The caução is a security deposit: money you hand over at the start so the landlord is covered against unpaid rent, unpaid charges, or damage beyond normal wear. It is not prepayment of your last months. Historically the amount was loosely regulated, but the Mais Habitação law changed art. 1076 of the Código Civil to set clear ceilings.

Both the deposit and any advance rent must be written into the contract as their own clauses, and the landlord must issue a receipt (recibo de quitação) for what you pay. When you leave, the caução should come back to you unless the landlord has a real, documented reason to retain part of it. The single best protection is evidence: dated photos and, ideally, a signed inventory (auto de vistoria) at move-in and move-out. If a landlord refuses to hand it back, see our guide on what to do when your deposit is not returned in Portugal.

How much can rent go up each year in Portugal?

Unless you agreed a different formula in writing, rent can be updated once a year by the official INE coefficient — 1.0224 for 2026, a maximum rise of 2.24% — with at least 30 days' written notice. Rent is not frozen for the life of the lease, but it cannot jump at will either. Under art. 1077 of the Código Civil the parties may agree in writing how the rent is updated. Failing an agreement, the landlord may raise it once a year, and no sooner than one year after the contract started or the last update, using the annual coefficient published by the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE) in the Diário da República.

The coefficient changes every year and reflects inflation, so the figure above is specific to 2026; check the current Aviso before applying it. For a deeper look at the ceilings and how notice works, read our rent increase limits in Portugal explainer. If the landlord misses the 30-day notice or the yearly window, the increase does not simply vanish, but it cannot be backdated over you — the update takes effect only for the future, from a properly notified date.

Who pays for repairs — tenant or landlord?

As a rule the landlord carries out conservation works (ordinary and extraordinary) to keep the home fit for its purpose (art. 1074), while the tenant uses it carefully and returns it in the state received bar normal wear (art. 1038). Beyond price and duration, the Código Civil hands each side a standing set of obligations. The headline split is simple — the landlord keeps the home fit, the tenant uses it carefully — but the detail is where disputes start. The landlord's core duties come from art. 1031 (deliver the home and ensure peaceful enjoyment) and art. 1074 (carry out conservation works, ordinary and extraordinary, unless otherwise agreed). The tenant's come mainly from art. 1038.

Signing tidies most of this up before there is a problem:

1. Check the contract typeConfirm whether it is fixed-term or open-ended, and the exact term — this drives every notice period later (arts. 1094-1095).
2. Agree deposit and advance rentBoth capped at two months, each in its own clause, each with a receipt (art. 1076).
3. Pin down rent updatesEither accept the annual INE coefficient or write a different formula (art. 1077).
4. Record the conditionPhotograph the home and, if possible, sign an inventory — your evidence for the deposit later.
5. Keep proof of everythingReceipts, the signed contract and any registered letters. Portuguese tenancy law rewards paper.

Where CourtStairs fits

This is exactly the kind of question CourtStairs is built for: it takes a plain-language question — "how big a deposit is legal?", "can they raise my rent mid-year?", "who pays for the broken boiler?" — and answers it with the specific article behind it: art. 1094-1095 for lease types, 1076 for the deposit, 1077 for rent updates, and 1031, 1074 and 1038 for who owes what. It works in English and Portuguese and links each point to the Diário da República so you can confirm it yourself.

This is general information about the law, not legal advice. Tenancy outcomes turn on your contract's wording, older leases can follow transitional regimes, and the rules change — Mais Habitação reshaped the deposit and rent rules, and the update coefficient is reset every year — so treat this as a starting point and confirm anything important against the primary source or a lawyer.