Owners of vacant properties can be approached by the municipalities for forced rent and subsequent subletting. When they receive the rental proposal from the council, the owners will have 10 days to respond from their receipt, reads the new version of the bill that the government made available last Friday evening on the consultalex.gov portal .pt, when there are only five days left before the end of the public consultation on the More Housing programme.
If the owner rejects the municipality’s proposal or does not respond in time, and the building remains empty for another 90 days, the municipalities can proceed to forced rental of the accommodation, with the necessary adjustments, in accordance with the provisional article of the law. .
If the state of conservation of the property does not allow its use for housing, “the municipalities may, under duress, carry out the works necessary due to poor safety or health conditions, as well as poor habitability, with reimbursement of the rents due “.
Tenants report to AT
In the new legal text, which aims to “take measures with the aim of guaranteeing housing for everyone”, it was also known that tenants can henceforth report leases, subleases, commitments and associated changes or terminations to the tax authorities, if landlords do not do so. The respective changes or termination of contracts must also be communicated to the tax authorities.
Capital gains exempt from IRS
In the case of home sales to the state, capital gains are exempt from IRS tax, with the exception of those earned by residents in areas with a more favorable tax regime.
Owners v AL
The government’s proposal also introduces several changes related to Local Accommodation (AL). The text just released specifies that the owners can oppose the AL in autonomous fractions of buildings or in parts of urban buildings.
However, this rule does not apply if the title of ownership provides for the use of the relevant faction for that purpose or if the joint meeting of owners has expressly approved the activity.
The decision to cancel the registration, which entails the “immediate cessation” of the activity, must be communicated by the meeting of co-owners to the president of the respective municipal council.
On this subject, the Executive also ruled that the suspension of new permits for Local Accommodation, except for “rural accommodation areas”, without specifying which and referring to “terms yet to be defined” by those responsible for the areas of Economy, Housing and Territorial Cohesion.
Local accommodation registrations active on the date of enactment of this Act expire on December 31, 2030 and “are renewable for five years, beginning December 31, 2030.”
Parish councils now have powers of inspection and the authority to “impose the respective fines and additional sanctions” in terms of Local Accommodation, together with ASAE and municipal councils, which are able to “enact the temporary ban on the operation of Accommodation Institutions . locally, in whole or in part”.
As is known, the registration of a Local Accommodation Establishment is now valid for five years.
Entities with support
The legislation published Friday also specifies which entities can compete for “support for the promotion of housing at a controlled cost”. They are cooperatives, commercial civil construction associations, municipalities and charities or other institutions of social solidarity.
The government assumes it wants to promote controlled-cost housing and mentions that beneficiaries will have access to benefits such as lines of credit and transfers of public land.
Specifically, the government approves “a new line of credit, with mutual guarantee and interest rate subsidy, for affordable housing projects, namely for construction or renovation, including the acquisition of the real estate necessary for this, and subsequent leasing”, for a total amount of up to EUR 250 million.
The government states that it will “designate public real estate assets for the transfer of land, for the purpose of promoting, offering and managing affordable leases”, which will be allocated “for a period not exceeding 90 years”.
The approval of the new housing law is scheduled for the Council of Ministers on the 26th.
With Lusa
Teresa Costa is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
