Renting a Room in Portugal Is 8% More Expensive Than It Was a Year Ago

28 August 2017

Portugal is a country of home owners, but the rental market seems to be in a more dynamic phase, especially among the younger generation. Rental costs are beginning to rise with the rest of the market. According to a study by idealista, the cost of renting a room in Portugal is 8% more expensive than a year ago in August 2016, with an average monthly price of 238 euros.

The study also concludes that the interest in the rental of single rooms, signalled by the number of searches carried out in the last year, has quintupled, underlining the increasing demand in this segment of the market.

The largest increases in rents occurred in the main districts of the country: the highest annual increase (15.2%) occurred in Porto and followed by Lisbon (14%) and Coimbra (6%).

The most expensive rooms for rent are in the capital, Lisbon, with an average monthly cost of 308 euros per month. This amount is higher than the prices seen in Porto (242 euros per month) and in Setúbal (222 euros). On the other hand, the most accessible districts in which to rent a room are Santarém (185 euros), Coimbra (183 euros) and Leiria (169 euros).

The Typical Tenant

The typical tenant who chooses to share a house, that is, one who prefers to rent a room within a flat or house,d is on average 33 years old and lives in the centre of big cities. They usually do not smoke (but are tolerant of those who do) and do not have or allow pets.

According to idealista’s study, the average age of people living in shared houses varies according to the geographical area, with Santarém and Setúbal being the districts with the highest average age: around 37 (in both cases). In Lisbon, the average age is 36 while in Porto it is only 30. Coimbra, a traditionally student city, has a lower average age (28 years).

It should also be noted that in 84% of the shared houses, both sexes live together. 13% are shared only by women, and 3% are exclusively male.

It’s not just students who share homes

The data published in the report also reveals that shared housing is no longer just for students. It is becoming popular for young people who are just beginning their careers and in some cases for people at even later stages.

Renting a house in large Portuguese cities is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive, especially for single or separated people. In many cases, renting a room turns out to be a more advantageous alternative.

On the other hand, sharing a home continues to be a stimulus for many young people who want to be independent and leave their parents’ home, a trend that should increase in the coming years.

idealista has become a reference for those looking to share a home, both for ease of use and quality of information. The web portal offers a service for those interested in finding someone to possibly share a house with, to subsequently start the process of finding a residence.  The service has become very successful among the Portuguese, and with foreign nationals travelling to Portugal, who are looking for housing options while still in their countries of origin.

It should be noted that idealista’s study only contemplated those districts for which enough data was available and which had a minimum of 50 advertisements during the period in question. It was not possible to define annual variations for Leiria, Santarém and Setúbal due to lack of data for 2016.

Original Story: idealista

Translation: Richard Turner

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