The local regulation for Alojamento Local in Lisbon was approved recently and came into effect on 6th December 2025, the day after being published in the Diário da República. Aviso n.º 29926-A/2025/2, de 5 de dezembro modifies the previous Regulamento Municipal do Alojamento Local published as Aviso n.º 17706-D/2019, de 6 de novembro.
The regulation aims to strengthen control over AL activity to protect residential housing supply, replace the previous containment area system with one based on freguesias (parishes) and bairros (neighbourhoods), and allow selective exceptions for AL in specific cases such as urban rehabilitation situations and the AL activity in Rooms (“quartos”) in certain primary residences.
Two types of Containment Area are maintained: Absolute and Relative, the main differences being:
ABSOLUTE CONTAINMENT AREA
This is triggered when the number of AL units exceeds 10% of permanent housing units and is applied to:
In general, no new AL registrations are allowed in Absolute Containment Areas and it is not possible to transfer AL’s registered in the categories of Apartment/Apartamento or House/Moradia to another owner or entity, except for the conditions listed further below.
A new Alojamento Local registration is allowed after full rehabilitation of buildings in ruins or vacant for >3 years, projects that create multifunctional buildings with social or cultural value for the city, and projects including affordable rental units under municipal housing rules.
RELATIVE CONTAINMENT AREA
This type of containment area is implemented when the ratio of AL units to normal housing units is between 5% and 10%, and is applied to:
In Relative Containment Areas, new AL registrations are generally prohibited, but certain exceptions are again allowed. The previous exceptions for Absolute Containment Areas, above, also apply here, but additionally, an AL registration is allowed in the Quartos (Rooms) category, if the property is the owner’s permanent residence and fiscal address for 3+ years. and with a limit of 1 registered room for 2-bedroom properties and 2 registered rooms for 3-bedroom or larger properties.
These exceptions do not apply if the property has had a residential rental contract registered in the last 5 years (it IS permitted if the AL is being applied for by the tenant), or if the property was acquired in a public auction organised by the municipality or other public entity.
AL units registered under the above exception conditions are valid for 5 years, and are non-renewable while the area remains in containment. Registrations under the Rooms category are valid for 1 year and are renewable if requirements remain met (type of property, fiscal address, room limits).
EXCEPTIONS TO REGISTRATION TRANSMISSION
It is possible to change the title holder of an AL registration in absolute or relative containment areas under parameters defined by national law: inheritance, transfer to a spouse (including common-law spouses), or immediate descendants or ascendants. There is also no transfer restriction for Alojamento Local units registered in the Estabelecimento de Hospedagem or Quartos categories.
Lastly, and most importantly, Article 2 of the regulation outlines the scope of the rules (our highlight): “O presente regulamento estabelece as regras aplicáveis ao registo de estabelecimentos de alojamento local no Município de Lisboa, nomeadamente as aplicáveis aos novos registos localizados em áreas de contenção.”
This means that the new rules regarding the transfer of an AL licence in Lisbon’s containment areas only apply to new registrations, which appear in the RNAL database on or after the date this law came into effect, 6th December 2025. Any AL’s registered BEFORE that date, can be legally transferred to a new entity or person.
The published regulation includes several annexes which provide a list of the neighbourhoods, and also show the current containment areas.