The legislative framework that currently regulates pre-1990 leases “is a mess that cannot be unraveled”. The expression comes from António Frias Marques, president of the National Association of Owners (ANP), who advises members to wait until the Ministry of Housing clarifies the criteria for increasing the so-called old rents and compensation to landlords for more than ten years . of the rent freezes. The agency headed by Marina Gonçalves has already confirmed that these 151,620 contracts may undergo an update of 6.94% next year, a coefficient corresponding to the average inflation of the last twelve months, excluding housing, recorded in August. But landlords consider the amount insufficient and say the legislation contains contradictions. The Lisbon Owners Association (ALP) sent a letter to the ministry last week asking for clarification, but has not yet received a response, said Diana Ralha, director of the ALP.
Time is running out. By the end of November, landlords must send a letter to tenants informing them of the value of the increase in 2024. The main doubts concern the legal provisions resulting from the Mais Habitação program and in particular Article 35. Law No. .º 56/ 2023, which approves a series of measures in the field of housing and introduces several legislative changes, says in the opening chapter that it goes further “defining protection mechanisms for tenants with pre-1990 leases and guaranteeing fair compensation from the landlord”. In Article 35, the article states that “fiscal measures should be defined, including exemption from IRS and IMI, the amounts and limits of compensation to be granted to the landlord and the rent to be fixed for the tenant and to be applied from 2024.”
As landlords note, compensation should come from the conclusions of the report on the old rental market, requested by the government last year, which aimed, among other things, to identify the number of existing contracts and how many of these tenants were living in conditions. economic hardship. The investigation, which should have been completed in March but was extended for another two months, is not yet known. According to Diana Ralha, the Ministry of Housing had a first version in hand, but “couldn’t do it”. “The report is in secret mode,” says António Frias Marques in turn.
The owners do not want to forget the freezing of these rents for more than ten years and are demanding compensation. As Diana Ralha emphasizes, these contracts can be updated with the coefficient calculated by the National Statistical Institute, but “not only with the 6.94%. We are talking about rental prices of 20 and 50 euros, for more than 150,000 houses, 16% of the rental prices.” the rental market. Landlords are not Santa Casa da Misericórdia. It was determined that they would be compensated.” The manager also remembers that these contracts involve rental prices of more than a thousand euros. “It is a double market,” he says.
The ALP asked the guardians whether, if they continued with the statutory increase, they would not be able to make other updates in 2024, as provided for in section 35 of the More Housing Act. António Frias Marques also admits that “the rules are not clear” and therefore “we advise members to wait for clarification so as not to take wrong steps. We advise them not to apply the coefficient”. According to an official source from the Ministry of Housing, the investigation has been completed but will not be published, and compensation measures will be presented to landlords soon.
The owners argue that these rental prices should be adjusted by 1/15th of the taxable value (VPT) of the property, as laid down in the New Urban Leasing Regime. António Frias Marques gives an example: “For a home with a VPT of 100,000 euros, the annual rent can rise to 6,700 euros, about 560 euros per month.” In his opinion, “it is a fair income. Only with these values can the coefficient be applied.” As he emphasizes: “There are about 200,000 houses with a rent of less than 150 euros. That’s not even the current value of a room.” The person in charge also recalls that for situations where tenants were in economic need, the introduction of a rental subsidy was provided. This support never got off the ground. Diana Ralha also points out that the value of rents in the government-launched affordable rental program is much higher than in pre-1990 contracts. “Owners are replacing the state,” she says.
Sónia Santos Pereira is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
