When choosing a house to rent, one of the key factors is the cost. To make sure you keep the family budget balanced, idealista presents the 25 cheapest municipalities to rent a house in Portugal.
At the top of the list is Castelo Branco, where landlords ask, on average, 5 euros per square metre (euros/m2). According to a study by idealista, Portugal's real estate marketplace, this municipality even has the cheapest square metres in the country. But there are eight others that have house prices for rent equal to or less than 6 euros/m2. Come and find out which ones.
The ranking of the five cheapest municipalities to rent a house in Portugal continues with Viseu (5.3 euros/m2), Santarém (5.3 euros/m2), Figueira da Foz (5.4 euros/m2) and Caldas da Rainha (5.8 euros/m2). These are followed by Viana do Castelo, Valongo and Leiria, where the cost is 6 euros/m2 in each of the three municipalities.
For less than 7 euros per square meter, there are still the municipalities of Guimarães (6.1 euros/m2), Braga (6.3 euros/m2), Gondomar (6.5 euros/m2), Alcobaça (6.6 euros/m2), Covilhã (6.6 euros/m2), Vila do Conde (6.9 euros/m2) and Ílhavo (6.9 euros/m2).
The ranking of the 25 cheapest municipalities to rent a house in Portugal continues with Torres Vedras, in the Lisbon region, and Maia, in the Porto region , where the houses to rent cost 7.2 euros/m2 in both municipalities. This is followed by Coimbra (7.4 euros/m2), Montijo (7.6 euros/m2), Póvoa do Varzim (7.7 euros/m2), Vila Franca de Xira (8.1 euros/m2), Barreiro (8.4 euros/m2), Setúbal (8.4 euros/m2) and Vila Nova de Gaia (8.4 euros/m2).
In the last place of the ranking is the municipality of Aveiro, where renting a house has an average cost of 8.5 euros/m2.
And which are the most expensive municipalities to rent a house in?
The study carried out by idealista also found the five most expensive places to rent a house in Portugal. Cascais, where the square metre costs 13.6 euros, is at the top of the list, as the most expensive in the country. It is followed by Lisbon (13.5 euros/m2), Loulé (12.1 euros/m2), Oeiras (11.2 euros/m2) and Porto (10.9 euros/m2).
Where is the highest demand for rental homes in Portugal? Lisbon and Porto outside the top 50
Living near major urban centres, where rents are more affordable, continues to be the main focus of rental searches in Portugal. Evidence of this is that the municipalities surrounding Lisbon (such as Barreiro, Vila Franca de Xira and Amadora) remain at the top of the list of the 50 most sought-after municipalities for renting homes in the second quarter of 2025. Lisbon and Porto themselves do not appear in this ranking, as demand pressure is more evenly spread across the available rental proper
The 25 cheapest municipalities to rent a home in Portugal in 2025
A quick look at the rental map of Portugal reveals clear differences in prices across the country in the second quarter of 2025. The cost of renting a home ranges from a high of €22.2 per square metre (€/m²) in Lisbon to a low of €6.8/m² in Castelo Branco. Using data from idealista, Portugal’s leading property marketplace, we reveal the 25 cheapest places to rent a home in the country.
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