Portugal housing law overhaul

In late July 2026, the housing advocacy platform Casa Para Viver, representing around one hundred tenant groups, delivered an open letter to Housing Minister Miguel Pinto Luz. The letter condemned recent amendments to the New Urban Rental Regime (NRAU) approved on 9 July, arguing that the removal of the 2 % rent‑increase cap, the simplification of eviction procedures, and the encouragement of speculative investment would worsen housing precarity.

A few days later, the government announced further steps to speed up evictions. Infrastructure and Housing Minister Miguel Pinto Luz presented a plan to allow a judge’s eviction order to take effect immediately, eliminating a separate enforcement action, and to reduce the arrears threshold for eviction from three months to two months. Deferral requests for family, health or lack of alternative housing would still be considered.

The sequence shows tenant groups publicly opposing the legislation while the administration proceeded with additional measures aimed at accelerating evictions as part of its broader effort to address the housing crisis.