In a statement, sector professionals, supported by ALEP – Associação do Alojamento Local in Portugal, say that they will travel to the Assembly of the Republic on Friday to demonstrate “their concern and dissatisfaction" with the measures which will have an impact on the sector proposed by the Government.

During the initiative, professionals will deliver a petition with a view to “alert parliamentary groups and the Government to the threat that this proposed legislative and fiscal change represents for the sector”.

In the understanding of professionals, the proposals will have an impact on the lives of workers, on the economy and on tourism in the country.

According to the sector, “the disclosure of Proposal for Law n.º 71/XV/1.º, presented by the Government in the Assembly of the Republic, further accentuates the concern and the need to find balanced solutions that protect housing".

The Mais Habitação Program will begin to be discussed on Friday in the plenary of the Assembly of the Republic along with ten bills, a draft deliberation and two draft resolutions presented by the opposition.


Proposed measures


Approved by the Council of Ministers on March 30, the Government's bills to combat the housing crisis, which include measures such as the forced lease of vacant houses, the suspension of new local accommodation licenses or the end of golden visas, will be debated in general in the plenary on Friday.

Among other measures, the program provides for an extraordinary contribution to local accommodation and that in the houses allocated to this activity, the aging coefficient (one of the relevant factors for IMI purposes) is always kept at the maximum value (one), not lowering by depending on the age of the property.

Presented on February 16, the Mais Habitação program is based on five axes: increasing the supply of properties for housing purposes, simplifying licensing processes, increasing the number of houses on the rental market, combating real estate speculation and supporting families.