Housing Plus Package: How are rents defined in lease agreements?

To evaluate whether it is better to rent or buy a house? We can help you simulate housing credit proposals so you can make a more informed financial decision. Contact the real estate agency Casa no Minuto and credit intermediary Poupança no Minuto to learn more! Or first understand how rents work in the Mais Habitação program.

How are the rents defined in Mais Habitação rental contracts?

The limits on the rental value in the new lease contracts included in the More Housing package are imposed according to the length of stay in the rental market. But what does this mean?

A limit of 2% compared to the last rent was imposed, but this measure does not apply to all lease contracts. It only applies to residential contracts, excluding lease contracts for stores, warehouses, or offices.

Limit of 2% in residential leases contracts signed five years before the new law. 

In addition, this applies not only to all housing contracts, but to all new contracts for leasing a property, for which a leasing contract has been made in the five years prior to the implementation of this law, i.e., between 08/10/2018 and 07/10/2023.

The property may have been leased in the last five years, but if the lease agreement predates that date, no limit will be imposed on the rent.

In other words, if the property was leased between 2019 and 2020, but has been vacant since then, there is a limit of 2% to the rent that is now imposed; but if the property was leased until 2023, but the contract was signed in 2016, there can be no limit to the initial rent. This is a rule that will be in force for 7 years.

Please note that if you have a lower income than the general price limits for rent by typology provided for the respective municipality here, the 2% limit on rent updating is also not imposed. In this case, if the lease is included in the Mais Habitação package, the landlord can increase, in addition to the 2%, the updating coefficients that have not been applied in the last three years, in relation to the last rent charged (0.43% in 2022, 5.43% in 2023, and 6.94% in 2024).

Do you no longer want to rent and are planning to buy a house? We have the right services to help you: We provide a real estate agency that helps you find your dream home, and a credit intermediary to get the best financing for your property. Contact Casa no Minuto and Poupança no Minuto, respectively, to have access to free mediation services!