The first link below allows you to download an example letter which can be used to inform your tenants of the legal increase in rent for residential contracts, and the second link shows the official notice of this yearly increase published in the Diário da República.
BACKGROUND
Last week, the Government officially approved the yearly rental increase coefficient for 2024 of 6.94%. This coefficient is calculated from August to August and is then published in late autumn by the National Statistics Institute, INE, normally in October.
Last year, in 2022, and after the official rate of 5.43% was published, the Government issued a special law (Lei nº 19/2022, de 21 de Outubro) to limit the increase to just 2%, and many thought that would be the case this year also. However, after discussion with the Owner’s and Tenants’ associations, the INE figure for this year of 6.94% was accepted and published in the Diário da República last Monday, 30th October, in a notice linked to above.
The increase may be applied in 2024 to all residential contracts, according to Artigo 1077,º of the Código Civil, as long as at least one year of the rental contract has passed. The above letter should be sent by registered post with receipt notification (carta registada com aviso de receção) with at least 30 days notice.
Note that although this increase can apply to all rental contracts by law, even when not specifically mentioned in the written document, it is not obligatory. Also, contracts may legally include a clause for fixed yearly increases in the rent which can be lesser or greater than the official increase coefficient (e.g. 5% or 10% per year).
New contracts are mostly limited to 2% increases according to the new new Mais Habitação housing law, Lei 56/2023 de 6 de outubro, but this is not always the case.
