We arrived in Lisbon in May 2022, one year ago. I want to share our learnings about housing in Lisbon.
We have a T4 (4 bedroom), 2 bathroom in the Saldanha/Avenidas Novas area for 2000€ per month. The flat is on the fifth floor, has two elevators, AC, a large balcony (that freaks out the men in my family so it’s basically my own personal retreat), and is entirely remodeled (imagine an IKEA apartment). It included kitchen appliances but we bought a washer/dryer combo unit. It was unfurnished, which is good and challenging at first.
The market has gotten a lot harder since we locked down our lease in January 2022. There are a lot of little nuances to the Lisbon apartment market. Here are a few things we’ve learned during our time living and renting an apartment in Lisbon.
- Listing Details: Most people find their apartments on sites like Idealista or individual brokerage sites. Listings sometimes aren’t 100% accurate. For instance, the listing might not say that there is an elevator/lift, but when you look through the listing photos it clearly has a lift.
- Lease Contracts: we worked with a visa specialist and their attorney reviewed our lease agreement. They found that the lease was actually not in European Portuguese but in Brazilian Portuguese. I’m not sure if this would’ve been a big deal but I’m thankful we got a better document in the correct language.
- D7 Visa Considerations: part of the D7 visa application process is acquiring long-term housing. We got our lease in January 2022, our D7 interviews were on the 30th of January 2022, and there was a chance we wouldn’t get approved and be stuck with a two-year lease. We asked our landlord if we could add a clause that said that if we weren’t approved that they could keep the prepaid rent and release us from our contract. They agreed! This gave us a huge sense of relief. People said that the landlord would never agree but I’m glad we asked.
- Upfront Money: some landlords will ask for a year of rent upfront from foreigners. We got lucky, we prepaid 2 months of rent and another month’s rent as a security deposit (6K euros upfront).
- Lease Terms: you can give notice without penalty after 1/3 of the lease term has elapsed, then you can leave after another 2-3 months after notice. This is helpful for us because we are looking to buy a home (at some point) so we appreciate having the option to leave before the end of our lease.
- Rent Payments: you have to pay rent a month in advance! I learned this one the hard way. In the US, if it is June 1st, you have until June 5th to pay June’s rent, right? Well, in Portugal you have until May 5th to pay June’s rent. It makes sense from the landlord’s perspective. We make our rent payments via bank transfer (ABANCA) directly to our landlord using their IBAN. Easy peasy!
- Utilities: you have options! In the US you have one gas/electric provider per region and usually 1-2 options for internet. Here there are MANY options, which makes for better pricing and service options. HOWEVER…if you’re lucky to have power and water when you move in, don’t f*ck with it. At least not at first. We had utilities connected when we moved in and thought we were smart to move the power to a different provider. Cut scene to ISSUES and not enough available power to heat our water for 4 days. Because you can adjust the available power maximum, make sure to increase the power before moving service providers because they lock in your settings until the transfer is complete.
- Elevators / Mobility: elevators break, and ours has broken often! Thankfully, we have a main elevator (broken) and a service elevator that’s been working consistently. If you have mobility concerns, get an apartment on the ground floor (0) or find a building with multiple elevators. Oh! Be sure the elevator door is closed behind you or you’ll get some upset neighbors banging on your door. #sorryyall
- Shutters: the metal shutters on most buildings looked kinda tacky to me at first but they are seriously genius! We have electric shutters and they do a great job of keeping the sun out, adding privacy, and reducing our AC use. I had curtains pretty high on my shopping list but now I don’t think we need them at all.
- Deliveries: we have received delivery service from IKEA, Worten (electronics/housewares), Amazon Spain, Uber Eats, Glovo, and DHL. We have had to be home to buzz them into our building except one time IKEA was able to get in and left a ton of stuff by our front door.
- Energy Efficiency: every home has an energy efficiency rating from A to F. Our resources say that anything below a C rating will mean really high energy bills in winter. Our flat has a C rating and the building is constructed of concrete from the mid-’80s. It’s pretty good at sound dampening and keeping the place cool on hot days, but we’ll see how winter goes. So far, moisture has not been a huge problem, but it’s possible we’ll need some dehumidifiers come winter.
- Laundry: our unit did not come with a washing machine but we were able to order one online via www.worten.pt and it was delivered and installed within 2 days. We opted for a washer/dryer combo and are super happy with that decision. We don’t use the drying function on all loads but we like having the option. The key to making the dryer feature work is to not overload your unit. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations, or even a slightly smaller load for best results.
- Exteriors: Don’t judge a book by its cover has never been more true than wrt Lisbon architecture. In Lisbon, you’ll find a perplexing mix of beautiful older buildings with well-preserved tile exteriors to hideous 1980s-built concrete boxes with zero curb appeal. Some buildings look like they may fall apart with a strong breeze. But, most interiors have been well preserved or completely remodeled. It’s worth your time to visit the neighborhood and see what each flat is really like inside.
- Water Damage: Because most buildings in Portugal are made of stone or concrete, they don’t have the same concerns about water damage as wood structures. As a result, most bathrooms have no ventilation system and glass doors that barely keep the water in the tub or shower. My advice is to get a good mold spray, plenty of bathroom mats, and a dehumidifier if the lack of ventilation becomes an issue.
We’ve toured many different styles of homes. Do you have questions about housing in Portugal? Send us a message here.
