According to INE data, in the last 12 months until August, the average variation of the price index, excluding housing, was 5.43%, a value that serves as the basis for the coefficient used for the annual update of rents for the next year, under the New Urban Lease Scheme (NRAU) and which represents an additional 5.43 euros for every 100 euros of rent.

However, the effective value for updating rents will only be determined when, on September 12, INE publishes the final data referring to the CPI for August 2022.

The 5.43% increase in rents in 2023, applicable to both urban and rural areas, follows the 0.43% rise recorded this year, following the 2021 freeze (following the negative variation in the price index ) and increases of 0.51% in 2020, 1.15% in 2019, 1.12% in 2018, 0.54% in 2017 and 0.16% in 2016.

By law, rent values ​​are generally subject to annual updates that are automatically applied depending on inflation. The NRAU stipulates that INE is responsible for determining the rent update coefficient, which must be included in a notice to be published in the Diário da República by October 30 of each year to become effective.

Only after publication in the Diário da República, will landlords be able to announce the rent increase to tenants, and the increase can only effectively take place 30 days after this notice.

If they do not wish to do so, landlords are not required to apply this update.

Rents prior to 1990, however, were updated as of November 2012, according to the NRAU, which allows you to increase older rents through a negotiation process between landlord and tenant. If they have been subject to this extraordinary update mechanism, they are exempt from a new rise.