The Portuguese Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, asserted that the new concept of moderate rent concerning housing will not lead to real estate speculation.
The minister explained in a joint interview that appeared on Friday night, stating that the market will continue to function freely, emphasizing that “the Government does not set rental values.” “It simply indicates that up to a certain value, there are a set of tax incentives,” he explains.
The Government’s decision involves replacing the concept of accessible rent with that of moderate rent, ranging between 400 and 2,300 euros, without municipal limits, to ensure transparency. When questioned about fiscal incentives being granted to those practicing rents up to that value and not to those charging less, Pinto Luz argued: “Of course there are. It is the market’s incentive.”
Pinto Luz further emphasized that the Executive did not set rents at 2,300 euros by decree, maintaining that the market will continue to operate between “the supply and demand within this range.”
“The 2,300 euros, at a 40% effort rate, would imply a family having a monthly income of around 5,750 euros. [An individual from such a household] would earn 2,800 euros. Is this not, also, a middle class that has been overlooked and lacks housing? Do we continue living in a country where it is believed that this middle class is rich? Is belonging to the ninth tax bracket enough to be considered wealthy? This is the country’s problem: it pays low wages,” he pointed out.
On Thursday, the minister in charge of Housing elaborated that this new moderate rent concept considers the range of 400 to 2,300 euros and that municipal limits were considered. However, the Executive led by Luís Montenegro decided to abandon this idea in favor of transparency, as explained by Pinto Luz.
The Government decided to replace the concept of accessible rent with that of moderate rent, with values ranging from 400 to 2,300 euros, without municipal limits, to ensure transparency.
Lusa | 17:49 – 25/09/2025
As the minister clarified, this range allows for the inclusion of all rents, while acknowledging that in the districts of Lisbon and Porto, there are rents above the currently recognized maximum.
These values consider a household with a monthly income of around 5,750 euros.
“We will have policies for all classes, from households that cannot afford anything to those that can pay something,” assured the minister.
In particular, regarding families with moderate rent, the deduction on the tax return is set at 15% up to a maximum of 900 euros in 2026, increasing this limit to 1,000 euros in 2027.
For property owners, there is provision for, for example, reducing the personal income tax rate from 25% to 10% on leases of residential properties at moderate rents.
On Friday, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro acknowledged that rents of 2,300 euros are “very high,” but they exist in areas like Lisbon, Porto, or Setúbal Peninsula.
These are areas, he stressed, “where the market does not have sufficient supply and where a family with two children, with three children, cannot access moderate rent to have a housing offer.”
Read More: Housing? “This is the plan: We want to provide advantages across the territory”
