There has been much discussion about the rising cost of house rentals in Portugal, with prices often seen as incompatible with family incomes. However, this reality is mainly confined to certain areas of the country, particularly in large urban centres and their outskirts. In fact, there are municipalities where rental prices can be as low as 300 euros per month. In this article, discover the 10 most affordable municipalities to rent a house in Portugal.
According to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) published at the end of March 2025, only 42 municipalities had rental prices above the national average of 7.97 euros/m2 in 2024. This means that the majority of the 212 municipalities with available data – out of a total of 308 – have rental prices lower than the national average.
To find the municipalities with the lowest rental prices, one must travel inland, particularly to the districts of Bragança, Vila Real, Viseu, and Portalegre.
The cheapest municipalities to rent a house in Portugal
The 10 cheapest municipalities to rent a house are all located inland. The least expensive of them all in 2024 was Vila Flor, in the Bragança district, where rental prices were just 2.5 euros per square metre. This means that renting a 100-square-metre house here had an average cost of 250 euros per month.
In addition to Vila Flor, there are six other municipalities with rental prices below 300 euros for 100-square-metre homes: Vila Nova de Foz Côa, in Guarda; Mirandela, in Bragança; Sátão, in Viseu; Miranda do Douro, in Bragança; Campo Maior, in Portalegre; and Gouveia, in Guarda.
Just above the 300-euro mark for monthly rent are the municipalities of Moimenta da Beira, Macedo de Cavaleiros, and Valpaços, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), based on the number of new rental contracts signed in 2024 in each municipality.
The most expensive municipalities to rent a house in Portugal
On the opposite end of the spectrum are the municipalities with the highest rental prices in the country, with Lisbon leading the way at 15.93 euros per square metre. In the Portuguese capital, a 100-square-metre home had an average rental cost of 1,593 euros last year.
The second most expensive municipality to rent a house in 2024 is Cascais (15.31 euros), followed by Oeiras (13.8 euros/m²) and Porto (12.58 euros/m²). Renting a 100-square-metre home in these municipalities cost an average of over 1,250 euros per month.
Most of the municipalities in the top 10 list of the most expensive for renting a house are located in Greater Lisbon, with the exceptions being Porto, Funchal, and Matosinhos.
"The territorial pattern of rental prices per square metre for new rental contracts by municipality highlights, with values above the national average, all municipalities in Greater Lisbon and the Setúbal Peninsula, the Algarve (11 out of 14 with available data), and the Porto Metropolitan Area (6 out of 17)," noted the INE in the same report.
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