Short-Term Rental Licence in Lisbon: Complete Guide 2026

Getting a short-term rental licence in Lisbon — technically a registration in the national RNAL registry — starts with a question many property owners ask too late: is my address in a containment zone? The answer defines everything that follows: the documents to prepare, the timelines to manage, and whether registration is possible at all. The new Lisbon Municipal Short-Term Rental Regulation (RMAL), approved in December 2025, added property-specific documentation requirements that do not apply elsewhere in Portugal. This guide covers the complete process for Lisbon.

Step 0 — Check your zone before doing anything else

Lisbon operates a containment zone system that determines whether a new short-term rental registration is possible at a given address. There are three distinct situations:

• No containment (free zone): registration follows the standard national process, with no prior CML approval required
• Relative containment (AL/housing ratio between 5% and 10%): registration is possible but requires express authorisation from Lisbon City Council (CML), with a 90-day decision window; the room modality is available in your own primary residence without prior authorisation
• Absolute containment (ratio at or above 10%): new registrations are prohibited, with very limited exceptions (urban rehabilitation of buildings derelict for more than 3 years)

Following the April 2026 reclassification — which followed the cancellation of 6,765 registrations for lapsed insurance — the containment status is: absolute in Santa Maria Maior, Misericórdia, and Santo António; relative in Arroios, Estrela, and São Vicente. Avenidas Novas exited containment entirely. Individual neighbourhoods within other parishes may also be under containment.

For the updated zone map, parish-level ratios, neighbourhood-level tables, and what each containment level means in detail, see our guide on Lisbon short-term rental containment zones. For official, binding confirmation of a specific address, submit a prior information request (pedido de informação prévia) to the CML under Art. 7, para. 11 of the RMAL — response within 30 days, binding for 2 years.

Step 1 — Register the CAE with the Portuguese Tax Authority

Before any other step, the economic activity must be registered with the Portuguese Tax Authority (AT) by filing a declaration of activity commencement (declaração de início de atividade). The applicable CAE code for apartments and houses is 55201 (Alojamento mobilado para turistas — Furnished accommodation for tourists); for rooms and hostels, 55204.

This step must be completed before the BUE submission — the government portal checks for an active AT registration before accepting the prior notice. For the full CAE registration process and the tax implications of each code, see our guide on CAE codes for short-term rentals in Portugal.

Step 2 — Take out the mandatory insurance

Public liability insurance is mandatory for all short-term rentals — and in Lisbon it was the absence of updated insurance proof that led to the cancellation of 6,765 registrations in 2026. The minimum guaranteed capital is €75,000 per claim. For apartments in multi-unit buildings, fire insurance is also required.

In Lisbon, the insurance policy copy is one of the documents to include in the BUE prior notice submission. For what the law requires, typical market costs, and how to submit the insurance proof, see our guide on short-term rental insurance in Portugal.

Step 3 — Gather Lisbon-specific documentation

The Lisbon RMAL (Art. 9) adds documentation requirements that do not exist in the standard national process. For any registration in Lisbon, the prior notice submission must include, in addition to the documents required by the national framework (RJEEAL):

• Document confirming the property address and its urban property matrix article number (artigo matricial)
• Floor plans at 1:100 scale
• Proof of connection to public water, sewage, and electricity networks
• Copy of the public liability insurance policy
• Proof of notification to the building’s condominium (for autonomous units in multi-unit buildings)
• Condominium rules if they contain provisions relating to short-term rentals (if applicable)

For exceptional authorisation requests in containment zones, the following are additionally required:

• Copy of the derelict property declaration (for urban rehabilitation exceptions)
• Statutory declaration (under penalty of criminal liability) confirming no residential rental contract on the property in the last five years (template in Annex II of the RMAL)
• Statutory declaration of compliance with the per-owner short-term rental unit limits (Annex III of the RMAL)

Step 4 — Submit the prior notice through the BUE

Registration is done by submitting a prior notice with deadline (comunicação prévia com prazo) through the Single Electronic Counter (BUE), accessible at ePortugal.gov.pt, authenticated via Digital Mobile Key (Chave Móvel Digital) or Citizen Card (Cartão de Cidadão).

The submission requires:

• Property address and matrix article number
• Accommodation modality (apartment, house, room, hostel)
• Capacity (number of rooms and beds)
• Insurance details (insurer name, policy number, guaranteed capital per claim)
• Additional Lisbon-specific documentation (see Step 3)

The RNAL registration number is assigned immediately on submission. The property may not begin operating until the municipal objection period expires without objection.

Step 5 — Wait for the objection period

After submission, Lisbon City Council has a window to object to the registration:

• No-containment zones: 60 working days. If the CML does not object, the registration is tacitly approved and the short-term rental can begin operating.
• Containment zones (exceptional authorisation requests): 90 days from the date the application is received by the municipal services. If no decision is issued within this period, the applicant may apply to the administrative tribunal.

During the objection period, the municipal services may carry out inspections to verify compliance with legal requirements (Art. 13 of the RMAL).

What changes depending on your containment zone

No containment — standard process

Most Lisbon parishes are outside any containment regime. The process is the standard national one: CAE with AT → insurance → BUE → 60 working days → operations begin. No additional CML approvals are required.

Relative containment — authorisation or room modality

In Arroios, Estrela, and São Vicente (post-April 2026), two paths are available:

1. Exceptional authorisation from CML: the application requires additional documentation (including the five-year no-rental declaration) and the CML decides within 90 days. Exceptional authorisation in relative containment lasts 5 years, non-renewable while the zone remains in containment.
2. Room modality: in T2 or larger apartments that are the licence holder’s permanent residence (fiscal domicile for more than 3 years), up to 1 room (T2) or 2 rooms (T3 or larger) may be registered without prior CML authorisation. This authorisation is annual and renewable.

Absolute containment — effectively closed to new registrations

In Santa Maria Maior, Misericórdia, and Santo António, new registrations are prohibited. The only exception available to individual owners is the comprehensive rehabilitation of a building that has been entirely derelict for more than three years — and even this requires express CML authorisation. The authorisation lasts 5 years, non-renewable.

The transmission rule: in these zones, purchasing a property with an active short-term rental registration does not transfer the registration number — in the apartment and house modalities, any transfer of ownership causes automatic expiry of the RNAL number. The buyer must apply for a new registration under the rules applicable at that time.

After registration: ongoing obligations specific to Lisbon

Once operating, the obligations are the national ones plus some specific to Lisbon:

• Insurance: maintain active insurance and notify the BUE of any policy change within 10 days
• Guest reporting: report all guests to the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Authority (AIMA) through the SIBA portal
• Tourist tax: collect and remit Lisbon’s municipal tourist tax (taxa turística) per guest per night
• Registration number: display the RNAL number on all booking platform listings and advertisements (required by Art. 13, para. 4 of the RMAL)
• Noise: the CML may, following noise complaints, require installation of certified noise monitoring equipment (Art. 10, para. 5 of the RMAL)
• Record updates: if insurance or other registered details change, update via BUE within 10 days

For the full national registration process — fiscal obligations, IRS, VAT, and social security — see our guide to opening a vacation rental in Portugal.