---
title: "EU Proposes Short-Term Rental Rules: What Changes for Alojamento Local in Portugal"
description: "The European Commission's Affordable Housing Act, proposed on 9 September 2026, sets EU-wide tests for when a council may restrict short-term lets. It is not law, it excludes primary residences, and Portugal's AL rules already cover most of it. What owners and buyers should watch."
url: "https://ultimateportugal.com/posts/portugal-eu-short-term-rental-rules-alojamento-local"
author: "Rex McIntosh"
author_role: "Founder & Editor, Ultimate Portugal"
author_url: "https://ultimateportugal.com/authors/rex-mcintosh"
publisher: "Ultimate Portugal"
license: "Free to read and quote with attribution to Ultimate Portugal."
review_status: "dated-report"
type: "news"
published: 2026-09-10
updated: 2026-09-10
facts_last_verified: 2026-09-10
category: "Property"
tags: ["alojamento local", "short-term rentals", "airbnb", "property", "housing", "eu", "lisbon", "landlords"]
---

# EU Proposes Short-Term Rental Rules: What Changes for Alojamento Local in Portugal

> Dated report. This article describes events and rules at the time reported. It is not maintained as current guidance. Review policy: https://ultimateportugal.com/corrections

## The short answer

Nothing changes for your alojamento local today. On 9 September 2026 the European Commission proposed the Affordable Housing Act, a regulation that would set common tests a national, regional or local authority must pass before it restricts short-term lets: an "area under housing stress" where the average home costs at least eight years of local disposable income per head, proof that short-term rentals have hurt housing availability or affordability there for at least three years, and measures capped at five years before a review. Lets of a host's own primary residence are outside it altogether. It now goes to the European Parliament and the Council, with no date. Portugal's own rules — RNAL registration through your câmara, and municipal contention areas such as Lisbon's 10% and 5% ratios — are untouched, and they are what decides whether you can register a new AL this year.

> Published 2026-09-10. News posts describe the rules as they stood on that date; the sources at the end are the primary record.

If you run an *alojamento local* (AL, Portugal's short-term rental registration) or are buying a flat to let to visitors, the news from Brussels on 9 September 2026 changes nothing for you today. The European Commission proposed the Affordable Housing Act, a regulation that tells a national, regional or local authority *how* it may restrict short-term lets in a stressed housing market. It restricts nothing itself, it leaves primary residences alone, and it needs the European Parliament and the Council before it applies anywhere.

The rules that decide whether you can register an AL this year are still Portuguese: Decreto-Lei n.º 128/2014, amended in October 2024, and your own câmara's regulation. Lisbon's, in force since December 2025, is the one to read before you buy in the capital.

## What did the European Commission propose on 9 September?

A framework, not a ban. The text is [COM(2026) 599](https://housing.ec.europa.eu/document/download/35c4d242-60cb-408e-8a96-6ddf8ad18a70_en), a proposal for a regulation "establishing a framework for measures in Member States to safeguard housing affordability and availability". It leaves the decision on whether to act, and which measures to adopt, with national, regional and local authorities. The Commission's own [questions and answers](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_26_1793) put it in one line: the regulation "does not ban or restrict short-term rentals", and it "neither requires, prescribes nor recommends restrictions".

It sets the tests an authority must pass before it restricts short-term lets on housing-affordability grounds:

- The area must be under housing stress. The price-to-income ratio must be at least **8**, meaning the average-size home costs eight years or more of disposable income per head. The ratio must also have risen over the most recent ten years of data, and the authority must show that without the measure the pressure is unlikely to ease in the next three years, judged on population, housing supply and housing demand. At a ratio of 10 or more, the ten-year trend test does not apply.
- The effect must be proven. Short-term rental activity must have had a "significant adverse effect" on housing availability or affordability in that area for at least the **three years** before the measure, drawing, where it exists, on the platform data collected under the EU's registration rules.
- The measure must be proportionate: confined to the stressed area, aimed at lets whose scale, frequency or commercial character actually remove homes from the long-term market, and no broader than needed. The authority has to show that a less restrictive measure would not work as well.
- Measures last at most **five years**, with a review before any extension.
- Anyone affected must be able to contest the authority's assessment before a court.

The area can be a district, a municipality, a metropolitan area or a part of one. A measure covered by the Act no longer needs the notification the Services Directive would otherwise require. The [press release](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1792) says plainly that member states which acted have "been faced with legal challenges".

Read together, the tests make a restriction harder to do badly, not easier to do. Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen's line at the launch was that cities "shouldn't fear that they can be dragged into court".

## Does anything change for my alojamento local today?

No. A Commission proposal has no legal force. It now goes to the European Parliament and the Council under the ordinary legislative procedure, and both can amend it. The Commission has given no date for adoption, and the text says only that it enters into force twenty days after publication in the Official Journal.

Your obligations are the ones you already had. An AL still needs its registration by *comunicação prévia com prazo* (advance notice with a deadline) on the Balcão Único Eletrónico, addressed to your câmara's president; it becomes an RNAL number if the câmara does not object within **60 days**, or **90 days** in a contention area, per [Turismo de Portugal's AL guide](https://business.turismodeportugal.pt/SiteCollectionDocuments/alojamento-local/guia-alojamento-local-jan-2025.pdf). Since **20 May 2026** the EU's separate [short-term rental data regulation](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1028/oj/eng) has applied as well: where a registration scheme exists, as Portugal's RNAL does, the registration number has to appear on each listing, and platforms send the authorities activity data every month. Nothing in the 9 September proposal adds to that list.

## Is my primary residence affected?

Not under this text. Article 5 confines any restriction under the Act to accommodation that is *not* the host's primary residence, and the recitals call that exclusion a "minimum safeguard". If you let your own home while you travel, the Act would not reach you, though a Portuguese municipal regulation can still set its own conditions.

Buyers get a second protection: any restriction on *acquiring* property that an authority adopts under the Act applies only to purchases made after the measure takes effect. The costs that do apply to every purchase are in our post on [buying property in Portugal as a foreigner](https://ultimateportugal.com/posts/buying-property-in-portugal-as-a-foreigner).

## How do Portugal's AL rules compare with the EU proposal?

Portugal already does most of this. The Portuguese Association for Short-Term Rental Accommodation (ALEP) [told Lusa on 9 September](https://www.portugalresident.com/ec-proposal-on-short-term-rental-rules-lacks-clarity-association/) that the legislation in force "already incorporates almost all the principles" in the proposal; its complaint was that the Brussels text "does not provide much clarity" on what counts as a justified restriction.

| | EU proposal (9 September 2026) | Portugal today (DL 128/2014, as amended by [DL 76/2024](https://files.diariodarepublica.pt/1s/2024/10/20600/0000300031.pdf)) |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides | A national, regional or local authority | The câmara, by municipal regulation |
| Trigger | Price-to-income ratio of 8 or more, rising over ten years, unlikely to ease in three | *Áreas de contenção* (contention areas): an overload of AL establishments that may justify restricting new ones, declared by municipal regulation and resting on a study of AL concentration and impact |
| What can be restricted | Lets of non-primary residences; acquisition or use of non-primary homes | New AL registrations: none in homes let residentially in the previous two years, limits relative to the housing stock, conditions on new numbers |
| Primary residence | Excluded outright | Not excluded: rooms let in the host's own home are an AL modality (*quartos*); any exceptions are the municipal regulation's to set |
| Review | Five-year maximum, then review | Contention areas re-evaluated at least every three years |
| Existing operators | Transitional arrangements required | Transfers of registrations are the rule again; limits may apply to new numbers in contention areas |

Lisbon's municipal assembly approved an [amendment to the AL regulation](https://www.lisboa.pt/fileadmin/info_administrativa/normativas/regulamentos/comercio/Regulamento_Municipal_Alojamento_Local_Alteracao_2025.pdf) on 2 December 2025, in force from 6 December. A parish or *bairro* (neighbourhood) where registered AL units are **10%** or more of permanent homes is in absolute contention, and the whole municipality joins it if the citywide ratio reaches 10%; between **5%** and 10% is relative contention. The council monitors the ratios monthly. AL is about 67% of the city's tourist accommodation, by the council's own count.

The honest difference is the trigger. Portugal's councils act on the AL-to-housing ratio; the EU text asks for a price-to-income threshold plus three years of proven harm. Nobody has run Lisbon's numbers against the Brussels test, and until the text is final there is nothing to run them against.

## What happens next, and when?

There is no date. Parliament and the Council must both agree, both can amend the text, and the lobbying has already started. [Skift reports](https://skift.com/2026/09/09/eu-proposed-rules-short-term-rentals/) that EU Travel Tech, which represents Airbnb, Booking and Expedia among others, called the text a weakening of single-market rules, and that the European Holiday Home Association said it "falls short of what it promises". ALEP wants "justified restrictions", "causal link" and "proportionality" defined before disputes land in national courts.

Jørgensen made his case with Lisbon: rents up 103% in ten years, which he called "very worrying". A proposal is not law, and we will update this post when Parliament's position or the Council's general approach appears.

## What should you do next?

- Buying to let? Start with [buying property in Portugal as a foreigner](https://ultimateportugal.com/posts/buying-property-in-portugal-as-a-foreigner): the 2026 IMT bands, and the Banco de Portugal's 80% loan cap on anything that is not your own permanent home.
- Buying in Lisbon? Check the parish against the contention map before you make an offer; the [Lisbon hub](https://ultimateportugal.com/cities/lisbon) has the rent benchmarks that explain why the ratios exist.
- Weighing a long-term let instead? [Portugal's 2027 rent-update ceiling](https://ultimateportugal.com/posts/portugal-rent-increase-cap-2027) is the number a landlord can apply next year.
- Watching prices? [Bank appraisals rose 15.2% in a year](https://ultimateportugal.com/posts/portugal-house-prices-bank-appraisals-july) to July, which is the pressure these rules are about.
- Need an agent? Our directory lists [property search and rentals](https://ultimateportugal.com/directory/real-estate) firms we have dealt with ourselves.

*This post is general information, not legal advice. Municipal AL regulations differ by council and change — verify the current rules with your câmara municipal and Turismo de Portugal's AL guidance before you register or buy.*

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the EU banning Airbnb in Portugal?

No. The Affordable Housing Act the European Commission proposed on 9 September 2026 does not ban or restrict short-term rentals. It sets the tests a national, regional or local authority must pass if it chooses to restrict them on housing-affordability grounds, and it still needs the European Parliament and the Council before it applies anywhere. Portugal's alojamento local rules are unchanged.

### Can I still register an alojamento local in Lisbon in 2026?

It depends on the parish. Since 6 December 2025 Lisbon's municipal regulation puts any parish or bairro where registered AL units are 10% or more of permanent homes in absolute contention, and 5% to under 10% in relative contention. Check the câmara's contention map first, then file the comunicação prévia on the Balcão Único Eletrónico; in a contention area the câmara has 90 days to object, otherwise 60.

### Does the EU proposal apply if I rent out my own home while I am away?

No. Article 5 of the proposal confines any restriction under the Act to accommodation that is not the host's primary residence, and the recitals call that exclusion a minimum safeguard. A Portuguese municipal regulation can still set its own conditions, so check your câmara's rules.

### When would the Affordable Housing Act take effect?

There is no date. The Commission adopted the proposal on 9 September 2026 and it now goes to the European Parliament and the Council under the ordinary legislative procedure, where both can amend it. Once adopted and published in the Official Journal, the text says it enters into force twenty days later.

## Sources

- [Proposal for a Regulation establishing a framework for measures in Member States to safeguard housing affordability and availability (Affordable Housing Act) — COM(2026) 599 final, 9 September 2026 (PDF)](https://housing.ec.europa.eu/document/download/35c4d242-60cb-408e-8a96-6ddf8ad18a70_en) — The legal text. Art. 3(1): measures leave the Services Directive notification; Art. 5: scope, primary residence excluded; Art. 6: housing-stress test (price-to-income ≥ 8, ten-year rise, three-year outlook; ≥ 10 waives the trend test); Art. 7: area; Art. 9(2): three-year significant adverse effect; Art. 10: proportionality, non-retroactive acquisition rules; Art. 11: judicial review; Art. 12: five-year maximum; Art. 17: entry into force; recital 27.
- [Commission proposes the Affordable Housing Act — European Commission press release IP/26/1792, 9 September 2026](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1792) — Decision to act stays with national, regional and local authorities; three-year adverse-effect condition; next steps: European Parliament and Council under the ordinary legislative procedure; complements the EU short-term rental rules applicable since May 2026; member states have faced legal challenges under EU law.
- [Questions and Answers on the Affordable Housing Act — European Commission QANDA/26/1793, 9 September 2026](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_26_1793) — 'The Regulation does not ban or restrict Short-Term Rentals'; 'neither requires, prescribes nor recommends restrictions'; replaces the Services Directive notification procedure for covered measures; five-year duration limit; STR activity on the four major platforms grew 93% between 2018 and 2024.
- [Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 on data collection and sharing relating to short-term accommodation rental services — EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1028/oj/eng) — Registration numbers per unit, platform data sharing; Art. 19: applies from 20 May 2026.
- [Decreto-Lei n.º 76/2024, de 23 de outubro — Diário da República, 1.ª série, n.º 206 (PDF)](https://files.diariodarepublica.pt/1s/2024/10/20600/0000300031.pdf) — Amends Decreto-Lei n.º 128/2014 (the AL regime). Art. 15.º-A: municipal contention and sustainable-growth areas, caps by pressure, three-yearly re-evaluation, study-based proportionality; Art. 15.º-B: contention-area powers (no new AL in homes let residentially in the previous two years, limits relative to housing stock, conditions and duration, transfer limits, one-year suspension); Art. 5: revokes arts. 18–21 and 52 of Lei n.º 56/2023; Art. 7: in force the first day of the month after publication.
- [Alteração ao regime jurídico da exploração dos estabelecimentos de alojamento local — Turismo de Portugal](https://business.turismodeportugal.pt/pt/Planear_Iniciar/Como_comecar/Alojamento_Local/Paginas/alteracao-regime-juridico-alojamento-local.aspx) — Turismo de Portugal's summary of DL 76/2024: the Mais Habitação suspension of new registrations, five-year validity, condominium authorisation and the CEAL levy revoked; 60/90-day opposition windows; transfers of registrations the rule again, restrictable only in contention areas.
- [Guia Técnico — Alojamento Local (January 2025) — Turismo de Portugal (PDF)](https://business.turismodeportugal.pt/SiteCollectionDocuments/alojamento-local/guia-alojamento-local-jan-2025.pdf) — §9.1: registration is a comunicação prévia com prazo to the câmara president via the Balcão Único Eletrónico; the RNAL number issues if there is no opposition within 60 days, or 90 days in a contention area; breach of contention-area restrictions is a ground for opposition.
- [Aviso n.º 29926-A/2025/2 — Alteração ao Regulamento Municipal do Alojamento Local, Município de Lisboa, Diário da República 2.ª série n.º 235 (suplemento), 5 December 2025 (PDF)](https://www.lisboa.pt/fileadmin/info_administrativa/normativas/regulamentos/comercio/Regulamento_Municipal_Alojamento_Local_Alteracao_2025.pdf) — Approved by the Assembleia Municipal on 2 December 2025 (Deliberação n.º 570/AML/2025), effective the day after publication. Absolute contention: municipality, parish or bairro with AL at 10% or more of permanent housing; relative contention: 5% to under 10%; monthly ratio monitoring; AL about 67% of Lisbon's tourist accommodation supply.
- [EC proposal on short-term rental rules lacks clarity – association — Portugal Resident (Lusa), 9 September 2026](https://www.portugalresident.com/ec-proposal-on-short-term-rental-rules-lacks-clarity-association/) — The selected story. ALEP's Eduardo Miranda: Portugal's legislation 'already incorporates almost all the principles'; the proposal 'does not provide much clarity'; Commissioner Jørgensen: short-term rentals 'part of the problem', Lisbon rents up 103% in 10 years.
- [Bruxelas propõe regras para regular alojamento local — Observador (Lusa), 7 September 2026](https://observador.pt/2026/09/07/bruxelas-propoe-regras-para-regular-alojamento-local-e-aliviar-pressao-habitacional-na-uniao-europeia/) — Lusa's preview of the draft two days before adoption: no general ban, primary residence carved out, text to be discussed by member states and the European Parliament.
- [EU Unveils Rules to Help Cities Crack Down on Airbnbs — Skift, 9 September 2026](https://skift.com/2026/09/09/eu-proposed-rules-short-term-rentals/) — EU countries and the Parliament must sign off; Jørgensen at the press conference: cities 'shouldn't fear that they can be dragged into court'; industry reactions from EU Travel Tech, CCIA Europe and the European Holiday Home Association.

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