Renting changed this week in Portugal. Will it really help lower rents?

From 1 September 2026, new rules came into force aiming to increase the supply of homes for rent in Portugal. One of the main changes is the new Simplified Affordable Rental Regime (RSAA). The idea sounds simple: encourage landlords to charge lower rents in exchange for tax benefits.

But will it be enough to make housing more affordable?

Lower rents, less tax

Under the new regime, the rent cap is based on 80% of the median rent per square metre in the respective municipality. The actual figure may also take into account features of the property, such as energy efficiency or parking. In exchange, income from contracts that meet the regime's conditions can be exempt from personal or corporate income tax. For permanent housing, contracts must last at least three years, meaning the landlord agrees to limit the rent and the State reduces the tax burden. The goal is to make it more attractive to put property on the rental market.

But this is where the controversy starts

Is giving tax benefits to landlords the best way to make homes more affordable?

For those paying a high rent every month, the idea may be hard to accept, but there is another side to it, if an owner feels that renting carries too many costs, taxes or risks, they may simply decide to sell or keep the property off the market, and if many owners do the same, we have an even bigger problem: fewer homes available for demand that remains high. It is precisely this reality that the new regime is trying to change.

The housing problem is not only about price

We talk a lot about house prices and rents, but perhaps we are forgetting an essential part of the problem: supply. Portugal needs more available homes, and that means building, recovering vacant property, speeding up permits and creating conditions for more owners to place homes on the market. The new rules try to act precisely on this last point. The big question is whether the incentive will be strong enough to convince owners.

And now?

The new regime is only now starting to be applied, so it is still too early to know its real impact. It may bring more homes to the market and help some families find more affordable rents, or it may show that the incentives are not enough in the face of a much bigger problem.

But one thing seems clear: the housing crisis is unlikely to be solved simply by trying to control how much a home costs.

Perhaps the most important question is a different one:

How do we bring more homes to the market without driving away those who need to invest, build or rent?

That is probably where the real discussion about the future of housing in Portugal begins.