“Airbnb welcomes the progress announced by the Council of the European Union on the regulation on short-term rentals, which for the platform is a step towards more transparent and harmonised rules for hosts across the EU”, said the company in a statement.

For the company, these advances give “hope to many Europeans”, who cannot offer accommodation services due to “fragmented and disproportionate local rules”, which, according to Airbnb, were designed only taking into account the large tour operators.

Airbnb also indicated that it recently supported the EU's work on short-term rental rules, "which unlock economic opportunities" and provide governments with information to curb excessive tourism.

However, the platform reiterated that the “disproportionate rules” could leave the Portuguese out of these benefits.

In February, the Council of Ministers approved a package of measures on housing, with the aim of stimulating the rental market, streamlining procedures and providing incentives for construction.

With regard to local accommodation, the government determined that properties that remain in this modality will have to pay a special contribution, whose revenue will be allocated to the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IRHU).

The State also intends to attract landlords to transfer the properties they have in local accommodation to housing, assuring those who do so until the end of 2024, an exemption from IRS taxation until 2030, as “compensation for the decrease in revenue they will have”.

Issuance of new local accommodation licenses “will be prohibited”, with the exception of rural accommodation in municipalities in the interior of the country, where they can boost the local economy.

The Prime Minister, António Costa, also announced that the current local accommodation licenses "will be subject to reassessment in 2030" and, thereafter, periodically, every five years.


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