What are the cheapest neighbourhoods to rent in Lisbon?

Lisbon's rent map works like a ring: the historic core is the dearest, and asking rents fall as you move north and east along the metro lines.

The four cheapest parishes

Investropa names Benfica, Lumiar, Olivais and Carnide as the cheapest parishes in the city. All four are residential rather than picturesque, and all four are on the metro: Benfica and Carnide on the blue line, Lumiar on the yellow, Olivais on the red. What you give up is the walk to the river and the old town; what you get is more space for the money.

The value choice near the centre

Arroios is where many newcomers who want to walk everywhere end up. The London Thing's 2026 guide puts a one bedroom there at about 1,000 to 1,300 euros a month, against 1,600 to 2,000 and more in Príncipe Real and 1,800 to 2,500 and more in Estrela and Lapa. It is central, mixed, full of cafés and well served by the metro.

Where rents are highest

At the top, Investropa puts Santo António at about 27 euros per square metre, then Misericórdia and Santa Maria Maior at about 25, against a city average of about 22. Asking rents were down about 3 percent year on year in the May 2026 data, which means the market has stopped rising, not that it has become cheap.

Centre against outside

Numbeo, updated 24 September 2026, puts a one bedroom at 1,419.23 euros in the city centre and 1,067.20 outside it. That gap of about 350 euros a month is the size of the prize for living a few metro stops further out.

Before you sign

Cash on signing day is the same in every parish: the law allows up to two months of deposit and two of advance rent on top of the first month. And an old building at a low rent often means a cold flat and a large electricity bill in winter, so check the windows as carefully as the price.

For rent by flat size, see how much a studio, T1 or T2 costs in Lisbon, and for the whole monthly budget, the Lisbon cost of living guide.