Rental contract in Portugal

Whether you’re a tenant who’s just found the perfect place to rent or a landlord who’s renting one out, it’s important to be up to speed on all the aspects of Portuguese rental agreements.

As well as making sure that your rental contract contains all the details of the landlord, the tenant, the property and the amount of rent, there are two main types of contract in Portugal you should be aware of – fixed-term and non-fixed-term:

Fixed-term rental contracts:

• The contract can have a length of between 5 and 30 years, except in the case of holiday rentals, in which case it is often less than 3 years.
• If the parties to the contract, the landlord and the tenant, do not terminate the contract before it runs out, it will automatically be renewed for the same amount of time.
• If either party does not wish to renew the contract once it runs out, they must let the other party know in advance. In the landlord’s case, they must tell the tenant 1 year before the rental period ends. For the tenant, they must tell the landlord with 3 months’ (120 days’) notice.
• Either party can terminate the contract as long as they both agree to it, but if only one of the parties wants to, then there exist two options – to lodge a legal complaint (denúncia) or make a settlement (resolução).

Non-fixed-term rental contracts:

• This type of contract has no definite end date. It can be terminated by the tenant with 120 days’ notice.
• The landlord can terminate the contract if they need it for their own use, such as urgent renovation works or if they want it for a family member to live in. In this case, the tenant is entitled to receive up to a years’ worth of compensation. If the landlord is cancelling the contract for any other reason, they have two give a full two years’ notice.