In addition to suspending new licenses until 2030, it increased the IMI rate, as well as applying an extraordinary rate of 20 percent for this type of property.

The Government's measures have not been well received by owners and entrepreneurs in the AL sector, as mentioned by a group of citizens in the Algarve, who have created a public petition, intending to protect the sector in Portugal.

The disagreements

In a letter sent to several Portuguese political figures, which The Portugal News had access to, it is mentioned that the “petition results from the concern of people who work in Local Accommodation, as well as the related activities that depend on it.” Claiming that the law in force could have a negative impact on various households, the group states that it is concerned about the proposals because if “they are not changed or eliminated, they will kill AL in the short and medium term.”

Of the various measures presented by the Government, the letter mentions consequences for the sector, such as the reduction of “70 percent of the supply of AL”, in Portugal. Because given that there is a possibility that the condominiums prohibit, through a “deliberation taken by the majority of the building’s tenants”, AL establishments may have to close abruptly, cancelling reservations and requiring the refund of the amount paid by guests.

Decisions taken by the condominium, for example, may have economic and even social consequences if they result in the closure of the AL in a certain apartment. In addition to the consequences for the owner, some employees may lose their jobs, without the State providing “any type of financial or tax compensation.”

The proposals

In the document, which The Portugal News had access to, some proposals are outlined that aim to streamline the effects of the bill presented.

The group begins by asking for the elimination of the Extraordinary Contribution of Local Accommodation, “since it is a double taxation and, also, because the Government has not presented a single study from which a clear cause and effect relationship results between the installation of AL establishments and the decrease in the housing supply”, adding that the measure violates the “principle of freedom of economic initiative.”

In the letter sent to some of the Portuguese ministers, it is proposed to revoke the “current opposition system of condominiums”, which was approved by the Assembly of the Republic in 2018. According to the document, the group intends to improve the law by introducing “a system of mediation or arbitration, or through the creation of the figure of the AL municipal ombudsman.”

In addition to the proposals presented, in the letter sent to the members of the Government, it was suggested that “new AL registrations in a large part of the country should not be suspended”, referring that the municipalities will be the entities with the most “skills to manage their councils and to articulate housing policies with the development of different economic activities that share the same territory.”

To sign the petition, simply enter the link https://peticaopublica.com/pview.aspx?pi=PT116299 and leave your signature.

Have the laws been approved?

On the 19th of July, the Government met to vote on the final law of the Mais Habitação Programme, which involves the problems pointed out by Algarve citizens who support the amendment of the laws that may be in force under Local Accommodation.

Author

Deeply in love with music and with a guilty pleasure in criminal cases, Bruno G. Santos decided to study Journalism and Communication, hoping to combine both passions into writing. The journalist is also a passionate traveller who likes to write about other cultures and discover the various hidden gems from Portugal and the world. Press card: 8463. 

Bruno G. Santos