Portugal This Week: Rental-Law Vote on 30 September, Cooler From Monday, Bank Appraisals Up 14.7%

On Wednesday 30 September parliament debates, and takes a first vote on, the government’s request for power to rewrite the rental law. Nothing has changed yet for anyone renting today. Here is the week of 21–25 September, sorted by what it means for you: moving, settled or visiting.

What is parliament voting on for renters?

Whether to give the government the power to change the rules. Proposta de Lei n.º 103/XVII is a legislative authorisation: it asks parliament to let the government amend the urban rental regime (the NRAU), the Civil Code’s lease rules and related laws by decree. The Council of Ministers approved it on 9 July and it reached parliament on 12 August. It is down for a general debate on 30 September, with the general vote the same day.

The proposal’s text sets out what the government would do with that power. For tenants, the main changes it describes are these:

• A landlord could end a lease after two months of unpaid rent. Today it takes three.
• The cap on a deposit, now two months’ rent, would go, and rent paid in advance could run to three months instead of two.
• Fixed-term leases would lose their minimum renewal period, now three years when the lease is shorter, and a landlord’s refusal of the first renewal would no longer be held back until three years after the lease was signed. The minimum lease term itself would not change.
• The limit on how far the rent can rise between one contract and the next, set by Lei n.º 56/2023, would end.
• Leases signed before 1990 could be moved into the current regime on five-year terms when landlord and tenant cannot agree a rent; tenants aged 65 or over, or with a disability of 60% or more, would stay outside it. Either way, the landlord could raise the yearly rent to as much as 1/15 of the home’s tax value, unless the household earns less than five times the annual minimum wage, in which case only the normal annual update would apply.

As drafted, the changes would apply to new leases and to leases already running on the day they take effect.

Critics were outside parliament on Thursday. About 40 people joined a vigil organised by the Casa para Viver platform, asking the parties not to hand the government “a blank cheque” for easier evictions and higher rents, Lusa reported.

A yes on Wednesday is the first of several steps. The bill still needs detailed (specialty) scrutiny, a final vote, the President’s signature and publication as a law. The government then has 180 days to approve the decree-law itself (a draft is attached to the bill, and it can still change), and that decree in turn needs the President’s signature and publication. Until that decree is in force, your lease runs under today’s rules. If you want to comment, parliament’s public consultation on the bill has been open since 2 September and closes when the detailed vote begins.

Are house prices and mortgage costs still rising?

Yes. Appraisals are rising more slowly, and borrowing costs edged up again. INE’s median bank appraisal reached €2,254 per square metre in August: €14 (0.6%) more than in July. Over a year the rise was 14.7%, down from 15.2% in July. The number of appraisals fell 4.1% on the previous period, to around 32,700.

Borrowing got slightly dearer too. The average interest rate across all home-loan contracts rose from 3.135% in July to 3.162% in August. Loans signed in the last three months held at 2.910%, unchanged on the month. The average monthly repayment on all contracts rose €4 to €418, €24 more than a year earlier, and exactly half of it (50.0%) is now interest. For recent borrowers the average repayment rose €13 to €744, 14.3% above August 2025.

Put this next to INE’s second-quarter sale prices and the message holds: the market is slowing in pace, not in price. If you are buying, budget on today’s values. Why the appraisal, not the asking price, sets how much a bank will lend is in our July appraisal post.

When does the heat break?

From Monday. IPMA meteorologist Ângela Lourenço told Expresso that from Monday 28 September temperatures will be much lower than this week’s, although some inland areas may still come close to 30 °C. Between 28 September and 4 October, minimum temperatures should sit around 12–14 °C inland, especially in the mountains, and 17–18 °C on the coast. Rain is possible from the 28th and may continue, with breaks, for much of the week. The Azores are forecast above-normal rainfall; Madeira’s outlook is less certain but leaning wetter.

Madeira has one more hot day. It is under a yellow warning for heat until 18:00 today (Friday 25 September), the least serious of IPMA’s three levels; from Saturday the wind turns west and temperatures ease gradually. The regional civil protection service asks people not to camp in forest areas and not to use anything that throws sparks, from chainsaws to angle grinders, and warns walkers about dehydration and heatstroke on the trails. Bonfires and burning are banned in Madeira from 1 April to 31 October.

For visitors, the practical read: pack a rain layer for next week. Best time to visit Portugal has the month-by-month picture.

Did the fires disrupt travel?

Yes, on Thursday evening, on the railway between Lisbon and the Algarve. A fire that started at 17:10 near Laborela, in Ourique (Beja district), cut the Linha do Sul between the Ermidas do Sado and Funcheira stations from 17:49. Several trains, an Alfa Pendular among them, sat at those two stations for hours, and civil protection put the number of people held at about 500. CP said trains were running again by about 23:00; the fire was brought under control at 23:51.

Earlier in the week, in the far north, a fire in Arcos de Valdevez (Viana do Castelo district) that started on Monday afternoon reached three active fronts and drew 11 aircraft before it was under control from 05:27 on Tuesday. Civil protection said the villages nearby were not in danger.

If you are taking the train south on a hot, dry day, check CP’s service notices before you leave. The rest of the network is in getting around Portugal.

What changed for healthcare in Sintra and Cascais?

There is one more private hospital. Hospital Lusíadas Beloura, in Sintra, was formally opened on 21 September by Health Minister Ana Paula Martins; it has been seeing patients since the start of the month. The €40 million hospital has 41 consultation rooms, two operating theatres, 27 inpatient beds and walk-in care, with capacity for more than 100,000 consultations and 4,000 surgeries a year. It serves Sintra, Cascais and the surrounding area.

It is a private hospital, so nothing about the public SNS route changes. If you live on that side of Lisbon and pay for private cover, check whether your insurer includes it. How the two systems fit together is in healthcare in Portugal and health insurance for expats.

What’s on?

• Feira de Santa Iria, Tomar: 16–25 October, 400 years after it began in 1626. The new Iria Music Fest opens on the 16th; Quinta do Bill play on the 20th, GNR and Karetus on the 23rd, Bárbara Tinoco on the 24th. The 20th is Santa Iria’s day, when petals are thrown into the River Nabão. Details on the Tomar council page.
• Teatro de Vila Real: about 50 events from October to December. The season opens on 1 October with the Festival Douro Jazz: six concerts, the first of them for schools, with Mário Delgado and the Orquestra de Jazz de Espinho reworking Radiohead among the rest. Later in the season: António Zambujo, and the play Arte with Nuno Lopes, Cristóvão Campos and Rui Melo.
• Algarvensis geopark: the Algarve’s UNESCO Global Geopark, spanning Albufeira, Loulé and Silves, received its official certificate at the European Geoparks Conference in Finland (16–18 September). Among the sights UNESCO lists: tsunami deposits from the 1755 earthquake at Lagoa dos Salgados, and the Loulé salt mine, the deepest point in Portugal open to the public. More on the region in our Algarve hub.
• Formula 1, Portimão, June 2027: tickets for the Portuguese Grand Prix went on sale on Monday 21 September, and 986,344 people were in the online queue by 13:10. First-phase three-day tickets cost €300–700 depending on the area; single-day tickets are expected in later phases.
• Afro Nation, Praia da Rocha: 9–11 June 2027, about a month earlier than in recent years, with Davido, Rema and Fally Ipupa heading 30 announced artists. Entry is 18+ with ID.

What should you do next?

• Renting now? The rule that applies today is the annual update ceiling: how much rents can rise in 2027, and how the 30-day notice works.
• Buying this autumn? Buying property in Portugal as a foreigner explains how the appraisal and Euribor shape what you actually pay.
• Travelling next week? Getting around Portugal covers trains, coaches and hire cars, and the fuel bill is in this week’s fuel-price post.
• New to the Sintra–Cascais side of Lisbon? Healthcare in Portugal sets out how the SNS and private care fit together.

Facts above are as reported between 18 and 25 September 2026 by the sources listed below. The rental bill can still change at every step, and forecasts and event line-ups move: check the linked source before you act. This roundup is general information, not legal advice; for your own lease, ask a lawyer or a tenants’ association.