PORTUGAL Trends and Developments Contributed by: Francisco Lino Dias, Teresa Madeira Afonso, Diogo Neves and Maria Sanches Afonso, PLMJ
approved (Law 56/2023) and published on 6 October 2023. Some of the key aspects are listed below. • The registration of new local lodging estab - lishments, in the form of flats and accommo - dation establishments within an autonomous unit of a building, is suspended. However, there is an exception for properties located in inland areas, properties included in the Revive Nature Fund and in the Autonomous Regions of Madeira and the Azores. • It is no longer possible to apply for this type of residence permit through the following types of investment: (a) transfer of capital in an amount of EUR1.5 million or more; (b) acquisition of real estate with a value of EUR500,000 or more; and (c) acquisition of real estate the construction of which has been completed for at least 30 years or located in an urban rehabilita - tion area and carrying out rehabilitation works on the real estate acquired, in an overall amount of EUR350,000 or more. • The initial rent for new residential leases for properties for which there have been lease agreements signed in the five years prior to the entry into force of the law may not exceed the value of the last rent charged for the same property in a previous agreement, with a coef - ficient of 1.02 applied. • A scheme will be created to support the development of housing for affordable rental and student accommodation, by creating lines of funding and by concession of public land and buildings. • Income from residential leases will now benefit from a reduced personal income tax rate of 25% (compared to the previous rate of 28%). The reduced personal income tax rates
applicable to rental income from residential leases, determined according to the duration of the contracts, are revised as follows: (a) =/>5 years and <10years – 15% personal income tax rate (additional reductions of 2% apply, up to a limit of 10%, for each renewal of equal duration); (b) =/>10 years and <20years – 10% per - sonal income tax rate; and (c) =/> 20 years – 5% personal income tax rate. • Buildings in full ownership or autonomous units allocated to the Lease Support Pro - gramme may be eligible for property transfer tax exemption (on acquisition of land for con - struction) and municipal property tax for three years from the year of purchase, inclusive, which can be renewed at the owner’s request for a further five years. • The Landlord and Tenant Desk ( Balcão do Arrendatário e do Senhorio , or BAS) has been created to replace the current National Letting Desk ( Balcão Nacional do Arrendamento , or BNA) to handle the special eviction procedure and injunctions in the field of leased prop - erty, and provision is made for the respective procedures. Urban Planning SIMPLEX Included in the Mais Habitação programme, Decree Law 10/2024 was published on 8 Janu - ary 2024 to reform and simplify town and coun - try planning procedures and certain related mat - ters (SIMPLEX). In this context, several pieces of legislation have been amended, such as the Legal Framework for Urban Development and Construction ( Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação , or RJUE), the General Regulations for Urban Buildings ( Regulamento Geral das Edificações Urbana s, or RGEU), the Legal Framework for Territorial
716 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook