Lisbon short-term rental accommodations drop 37% as cancelled units stay off housing market

Lisbon currently has 11,704 short-term rental units, representing a 37% decrease compared to 2025, according to a report released by the residents’ association Vizinhos em Lisboa (Neighbours in Lisbon). The analysis showed that while property owners cleared a large volume of active inventory from official rolls, the removed accommodations have largely failed to re-enter the city's long-term housing market.

The study, titled “Snapshot of Short-Term Rentals in Lisbon 2023–2026,” examined public record administrative data alongside commercial listing tracks. The findings indicate that regulatory cleanup by local authorities removed inactive licenses, but structural inventory shifts remain concentrated inside saturated historical zones without shifting residential capacity to long-term tenants or prospective homebuyers.

What the data shows

The city's short-term rental capacity stands at 11,704 short-term rental units and 69,070 beds, according to the analysis from Vizinhos em Lisboa. These totals reflect a 37% drop in units and a 36% decrease in beds compared to 2025 figures recorded in public datasets.

The contraction in registered units follows dynamic administrative intervention by municipal regulators. Earlier this year, Lisbon City Council (CML) cancelled 6,765 short-term rental (AL) registrations. The cancelled units accounted for about 40% of the total short-term rental registrations in the city, with municipal regulators revoking them because the operations lacked mandatory civil liability insurance.

The report concluded that the overall decline in available properties stems primarily from the removal of long-standing, inactive registrations rather than an organic exit of active property operators. The residents’ association found that 81% of active units operating in the city were originally registered between 2015 and 2019. By contrast, only 332 new short-term rental units have entered the Lisbon market since 2023.

How it was measured

The figures were published by the residents’ association Vizinhos em Lisboa in its “Snapshot of Short-Term Rentals in Lisbon 2023–2026” report. To compile the data, the association cross-referenced four separate data extracts obtained from the National Short-Term Rental Registry (RNAL) with official 2021 Census data produced by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

To evaluate whether cancelled registrations converted into long-term housing stock, the association conducted targeted field checks across real estate advertising venues. Researchers analyzed real estate portal activity on Idealista over the past year. In the Santa Maria Maior district, the group evaluated a random sample of residential buildings where short-term rental registrations had been revoked. In the Ajuda district, the association cross-checked every building containing cancelled registrations against active market listings.

To test actual operational activity among deregistered units, Vizinhos em Lisboa carried out direct booking tests. Group members submitted booking requests to listings marked as officially cancelled within the administrative database to monitor whether unit managers continued to accept guest reservations.

Housing market impact

The physical removal of short-term rental licenses has not translated into renewed supply for long-term residential occupants, according to the tracking metrics. When checking the random sample of buildings with cancelled registrations in the Santa Maria Maior district, Vizinhos em Lisboa found that only 11% had appeared in sales or rental listings on the real estate platform Idealista over the past year.

In the Ajuda district, where researchers audited every building with cancelled licenses, the share of properties transitioning to public sale or rental markets was lower. The association reported that between 6% and 8% of properties with cancelled registrations in Ajuda appeared in Idealista listings during the same timeframe.

The report noted that broader listing metrics across the capital show minimal movement in residential availability despite administrative host rollbacks. “On the other hand—and perhaps even more telling—the overall number of listings in Lisbon today is in line with the figures from a year ago,” the association highlighted in its analysis, implying that “these properties have not reached the housing market.”

Historic centre concentration

Density distribution across the capital shows that Lisbon’s historic core remains heavily saturated with short-term rental operations. According to the cross-referenced census metrics, the Santa Maria Maior and Misericórdia districts contain more short-term rental beds than actual permanent residents.

Spatial concentration remains clustered across four central areas. Together, Santa Maria Maior, Misericórdia, São Vicente, and Santo António account for 61% of all short-term rental accommodations registered across the entire city. Local density peaks in Santa Maria Maior, where researchers measured a ratio of 69 short-term rentals for every 100 inhabited homes. By comparison, the citywide average sits at five short-term rentals per 100 inhabited homes.

The study contrasted existing short-term rental volumes against broader residential vacancy rates documented by national statisticians. The 2021 Census recorded 48,018 vacant homes in Lisbon, a figure that is four times the current number of short-term rental units. Vizinhos em Lisboa noted that this vacant housing inventory “could house around 105,000 people.”

Regulatory enforcement and unregistered units

Audit tests conducted by the residents' association indicate that regulatory cancellations have not completely halted non-compliant guest stays. The group’s booking test revealed that at least 4% of the listings marked as “cancelled” in the official administrative registry were still actively accepting guest reservations when contacted.

Following its findings, Vizinhos em Lisboa submitted policy recommendations to municipal authorities. The association proposed that Lisbon City Council (CML) maintain strict operational restrictions on short-term rentals in saturated historical districts while establishing active monitoring across the “new expansion frontier in Penha de França, Campo de Ourique, and Alvalade.”

The association also urged municipal leaders to mobilize the city's vacant housing stock and restore full public oversight to government registry data. Specifically, the group called for restoring “transparency regarding Turismo de Portugal’s open data by reinstating email addresses and adding the Tax ID numbers (NIF) of companies operating short-term rentals.”

What to watch

Operators, investors, and local property managers navigating the Lisbon short-term rental sector should monitor several regulatory and operational indicators:

• Municipal policy decisions by Lisbon City Council regarding containment zones and licensing caps in saturated historical districts.
• Enforcement actions targeting non-compliant listings, including the 4% of cancelled properties identified as operating without active registrations.
• Registry updates from Turismo de Portugal concerning public data disclosures, corporate NIF identification, and contact information.
• Licensing expansion and market activity in peripheral monitoring districts, including Penha de França, Campo de Ourique, and Alvalade.