Monthly rentals in Lisbonwhere to look, what a month costs and the lease you sign

Researched on 10 October 2026 from the platforms’ own pages, idealista’s rent reports, the Portuguese law texts and the Lisbon council. Our family has stayed in Lisbon; the rental research below is not first-hand.

The short answer: Lisbon is the easiest place on our Portugal list to find a month’s rental and the most expensive. Three platforms showed thousands of listings there and Flatio 535 [3][4][5][6]. idealista’s asking rent hit a record €25.1 per m² in September 2026 [1]. A genuinely temporary lease can be shorter than a year, and the contract must record its purpose, such as work or tourism [8]; the deposit on an ordinary lease is capped at two months [9]. Outside the city, Cascais and Ericeira have far fewer listings [3].

Where to look

Platform	Lisbon listings (10 Oct 2026)	Good for	Watch out for
Spotahome	6,315 [5]	Flats and rooms by the month	Fees and cancellation rules differ; read them first
Uniplaces	5,679 [6]	Students, rooms	Aimed at students [6]
HousingAnywhere	4,009 [4]	Rooms, studios, flats	Mismatch claims within 48 hours of moving in, under its policy [4]
Flatio	535; Cascais 14, Ericeira 21 [3]	Furnished flats with Wi-Fi speeds on the listing	Mixes nightly and monthly offers
Airbnb	not counted	Short notice, any area	Monthly discount set by each host [7]
idealista	not counted	Ordinary leases from local landlords	Check the minimum term in each ad

How you pay matters. Flatio takes the first rent and a fee at booking; any deposit is due by move-in day at the latest [3]. Airbnb charges the first month up front and releases it to the host 24 hours after check-in [7]. HousingAnywhere says it protects your payment until you move in; if the place differs from the listing you have 48 hours after moving in to report it and ask for a refund under its policy [4].

What a month costs

Area	idealista asking rent, Sep 2026	Year on year	Index × 50 m² (illustration)
Lisbon (city)	€25.1/m², a record	+8.8%	€1,255
Oeiras (incl. Paço de Arcos; Carcavelos is in Cascais)	€18.0/m²	+1.3%	€900
Sintra	€16.8/m²	+18.6%	€840
Mafra (Ericeira)	€14.5/m²	+8.4%	€725
Cascais	no figure published

Source: idealista [1][2]. Asking rents for ordinary leases, before bills; the last column is our arithmetic.

• Crowd-sourced: Numbeo’s one-bedroom is €1,425 in Lisbon’s centre and €1,063 outside (6 October 2026) [14]; in Cascais €1,565 and €1,016, from only 14 contributors [15].
• Furnished monthly lets: we couldn’t find reliable figures. They are a different market from yearly leases; compare several listings for your dates.
• Tourist tax: charged in tourist accommodation such as hotels and licensed holiday lets, €4 per night for guests aged 13 or over, capped at 7 nights: at most €28 a person on a month’s stay [12]. A genuine residential lease is not tourist accommodation. Cascais, Sintra and Mafra (Ericeira) set their own rates: tourist tax in Portugal.

The contract: what Portuguese law allows

The standard Portuguese lease runs at least a year. Article 1095 of the Civil Code exempts non-permanent housing and “special transitory purposes”, such as work, study or tourism, written into the contract [8][19]. In Lisbon this lease sits between a holiday let and a permanent lease, and landlords use it because the city stopped new holiday-let licences in its “absolute containment” zones [10].

What to check in the contract:

• The purpose is written down, for example remote work or tourism [8][10].
• The end date and whether it renews. These leases don’t renew automatically unless the contract says so [10].
• Tourism-purpose leases are limited to one per flat or building per calendar year, under Law 82/2023 (the 2024 State Budget) [8]. A landlord who has already used it may offer the lease “for work” instead; that is fine if it is true.

The other route is a licensed holiday let (alojamento local, AL). You are a guest, you pay the tourist tax for the first week [12], and the flat should have a registration number you can check in the national register [11].

Deposits and payments

• Ordinary lease: a guarantee of up to two months’ rent and up to two months’ rent in advance, no more (Civil Code article 1076) [9].
• Platforms add their own rules on top: deposit due by move-in day at the latest on Flatio [3], first month held until 24 hours after check-in on Airbnb [7].
• Write down the flat’s condition with photos on day one; it is your evidence when the deposit comes back.

When to book

July and August are the hottest and busiest months in the city; May, June, September and October suit a working month best, and winter is mild but wet. Details in the best time to visit Lisbon and Lisbon weather by month.

We found no dated source on how far ahead to book a monthly let, so we’re not giving a number.

Where to base yourself for a month

With kids: Parque das Nações (modern, riverside, next to the Oceanário), Campo de Ourique (residential, with its own market, and a planned district laid out by engineer Frederico Ressano Garcia, per the parish council [18]; check the slope of your own street before you book) or Estrela by Jardim da Estrela. Avoid Alfama and Bairro Alto with a stroller. Or Cascais, if the beach is your daily routine. More in where to stay on the Lisbon coast and Lisbon with kids.

For work: near your coworking. In Lisbon, Second Home at Cais do Sodré (handy for the Cascais train) or Heden Alvalade; in Cascais the tourism board’s CoWorking Cascais Visitor Center; in Ericeira Kelp Coworking, with the surf. Prices and the full list in working remotely from Lisbon; the two coastal towns compared in Cascais vs Ericeira.

Getting around for a month: one Navegante Metropolitano pass covers metro, suburban trains and buses across the region; see getting around Lisbon.

Rental scams and how to spot them

Portugal’s police publish the numbers: the PSP recorded 3,801 fake holiday-rental cases between 2023 and June 2025, and the GNR 436 rental-fraud crimes [13]. The GNR’s warning signs [13], applied to a month in Lisbon:

• Rent far below the figures above. At €25 per m², a central flat at half the going rate is a red flag.
• A “sinal” (reservation deposit) demanded fast because “many people are interested”. On a platform, never pay outside it; Airbnb warns that payment by wire or bank transfer may mean a fraudulent reservation [17].
• The same photos in other ads, especially under a different address or owner name. Reverse-search one photo.
• No landlord name or contact. For a holiday let, ask for the AL registration number and check it [11].
• Nothing in writing. Off-platform, ask for a written lease that states the temporary purpose [8], or for a holiday let a written booking confirmation with the price, cancellation terms, the operator’s name and the AL number.

Staying beyond a tourist stay? See the Portugal digital nomad visa and digital nomad insurance in Portugal.

Sources

Listed in the source list on this page, numbered in the order of the [n] references above. Read on 9–11 October 2026. Listing counts change daily; rents are asking prices, not signed contracts.