In 2020, Portugal passed a new tenant law called the "Cristas Law." It changed many things for both tenants and landlords, but the whole law is primarily to secure tenants' rights.
Now what does it mean for you as a tenant? And what if you want to rent out your property? We've compiled a brief overview of the new changes for you.
Long-term rentals
Please note that the information below only concerns long-term rentals and protected housing. This means that the rights of tenants and landlords are different in the monthly rentals market, which Flatio operates and specializes in.
For instance, in the monthly stays market, also known as the mid-term rental market, landlords can terminate the lease with 30 days' notice.
We recommend you use the information on our following pages to know your rights as a tenant or a landlord in the monthly rental market and carefully read the terms and conditions of the lease agreement:
The following explains the rights of tenants and landlords in the long-term rental market and for protected housing under the "Cristas Law".
Find the perfect accommodation in Portugal
Tenant rights in Portugal
Much has changed in the rights of tenants with the arrival of the “Cristas Law” in Portugal. For example, rental contracts have a minimum of one year. This means that even if you were to sign a contract for only a couple of months, it would still renew for a whole year.
If you signed a lease for a year, it will continue for three years (unless specified in the original lease). And if you signed a lease for, let's say, six years, then the lease will renew for six more. It’s a measure to make sure that your landlord cannot keep you guessing about your future.
Similarly, there are some new protections for the elderly (65 and older) and people with special needs who live on a property for more than 20 years. In these cases, the landlord must renew the lease unless they are doing major works on the property (these do not include repainting or changing the tiles).
Again, these rules are in place to ensure that people who cannot move easily have some protections regarding their homes.
Landlords can no longer use pressure tactics like taking away the mailboxes of tenants or doing no repairs on the house, and so on.
This may come as a surprise, but these tactics were not adequately punishable by the law before. If your landlord is doing something like that, you first need to send them a letter, asking them to stop (make sure to keep a copy or a record of sending). If they don’t, then you can go to your local officials, who will send an inspection.
Lastly, landlords have to respect the new anti-discrimination laws. This means that tenants cannot be denied a lease based on:
- sex
- gender
- sexual orientation
- ethnicity, ancestry
- language
- nationality
- religion
- political or ideological beliefs
- age
- disability
Landlord rights and rules in Portugal
This may seem like a lot of responsibility for the landlords, but the law also brought some advantages.
One of the most significant changes is that leases renewed several times can bring the landlord sizable income tax cuts. So the current income tax rate of 28 % can be cut all the way down to 10 % with long-standing leases.
Here’s a short overview:
- Every renewal of a lease gives the landlord a 2% tax cut.
- Leases of five to ten years bring an additional 5% cut.
- Any leases with a duration between ten and twenty years shrink the income tax rate to 14%
- Any lease that stands for longer than 20 years gives the landlord a 10% tax rate.
This incentivizes landlords to lease for longer, which in turn gives tenants stability in life.
There are many new changes, but these are the most important ones for landlords and tenants. Make sure to check out the official pages of the Portuguese government for more information.
