In brief: The Simplified Affordable Tenancy Regime has taken effect since 1 September 2026 and, on the same date, repealed the Rental Support Programme. Missing, however, is the ministerial order fixing maximum rent limits by property type, which the law required to be approved within thirty days of publication of the instrument, back in May. The electronic platform that was to be adapted by 1 September is likewise not operational. Anyone negotiating a contract today has no way of knowing what rent ceiling will apply to them.
What took effect on 1 September
Decree-Law 97/2026 of 20 May created the Simplified Affordable Tenancy Regime, whose rules are set out in annex III. Subparagraph (c) of paragraph 1 of article 18 brings the regime into effect on 1 September 2026, the date on which subparagraphs (a) and (b) of the same paragraph repealed Decree-Laws 68/2019 and 69/2019, which underpinned the Rental Support Programme. There is therefore no overlap and no transitional period: the old regime ceased and the new one began.
The missing piece
Paragraph 1 of article 4 of annex III makes the maximum rent limit depend on a ministerial order, to be fixed by property type and based on 80% of the municipal median published by Statistics Portugal, with scope to take account of energy efficiency and the existence of private parking. Article 16 required that order to be approved within thirty days of publication of the instrument. Almost four months have passed and the order has not been published. Without it, the element determining the contract’s eligibility — and with it the tax benefit — is undetermined.
The platform is not ready either
Paragraph 1 of article 13 required the electronic platform of the Housing and Urban Renewal Institute, through which the regime operates, to be adapted by 1 September 2026. It is not operational. The practical consequence is not merely one of convenience: it is through that platform that the landlord discharges the filing obligation on which recognition of the benefit depends.
What the regime gives and what it requires
Rental income from eligible contracts is exempt from personal and corporate income tax, under paragraph 1 of article 6 of annex III. In return, article 5 imposes a minimum term of three years where the tenancy is for permanent residence and of three months where it is for temporary residence. The rent limit, as noted, refers back to the missing order.
A deadline worth diarising now
Paragraph 3 of article 6 requires the landlord to submit on the Institute’s platform a copy of the contract and proof of the filing made on the tax portal by 15 January of the year following signature. Paragraph 4 then charges the Institute with reporting to the tax authority by the end of February. It is a short chain of deadlines with no apparent tolerance, so anyone signing contracts this year should treat 15 January 2027 as a deadline of their own and not as an administrative formality.
What to do now
For anyone negotiating, the concrete recommendation is not to fix the rent as a closed figure without providing for the unknown. It is worth stating expressly in the clauses that the rent adjusts to the maximum limit that comes to be fixed by order for the property type and municipality concerned, with an indication of what happens if the agreed figure exceeds that limit — whether the rent reduces automatically, whether the contract converts into an ordinary tenancy, or whether the parties may rescind. For those with contracts entered into under the repealed programme, it is worth checking on what terms the position carries over, since the repeal operated on the very date the new regime began to take effect. In either case it is worth following the publication of the order, because eligibility depends on it.
The full newsletter
This note forms part of the edition of 18 September 2026 of the firm’s biweekly newsletter, with thirty-two items in Portuguese and English. The full document, on letterhead, is available here.
This note is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Concrete solutions depend on the facts of each case and on the regime applicable at the time. For specific questions, please consult a lawyer.