Five associations in the real estate sector today demanded, in a “joint and unprecedented position” presented to the Government, the end of frozen rents, reduced tax rates for rentals, rent insurance and support for construction for rent.
In a joint position presented to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing, the associations of National Civil Construction and Public Works Industries (AICCOPN), Lisbon Owners (ALP), Professionals and Real Estate Mediation Companies of Portugal (APEMIP), Real Estate Developers and Investors (APPII) and Investment, Pension and Heritage Funds (APFIPP) put forward a set of proposals to “generate a wave of confidence and create a more functional market, capable of increasing the supply of affordable housing”.
“The primary objective of the proposed measures is to create a functional and dignified rental market, with dimensions that constitute a real and effective response to the current crisis in access to housing”, they highlight in a statement released today.
According to them, these proposals will create “a wave of confidence, stimulating the supply of housing for rent, either through the expansion of the stock of existing and/or vacant properties, or through new construction for rent”.
Among the proposals of the signatory associations are the creation of a “legal regime for stable leasing that can be approved with the maximum possible consensus in parliament”, the reinforcement of regulatory predictability with the “quick publication of additional ordinances” and the creation of a Rental Market Monitoring Committee with relevant partners, “to monitor and evaluate housing policies”.
Contractual freedom in defining terms (whether initial or renewal) in the lease is another of the measures requested, as well as the possibility for the parties to set the number of advance rents and the deposit and rent amounts and the creation of a flexible lease regime from three to 11 months, “framing new ways of living such as co-living”.
Also proposed is a reinforcement of the role of the Electronic Platform for the Rental and Landlord Counter, to reduce “excessive dependence on the court and set maximum deadlines for the procedural part”, making all processes “faster and more expeditious”.
The associations also defend the end of frozen rents, through the “definitive conclusion of the transition from contracts prior to 1990, with a replacement of the social role of owners by the State”, the granting of subsidies to tenants (in coordination with the Social Security Institute) and the subsequent end of current support for owners.
Another of the measures requested is the promotion of “affordable and public” rental, through a public housing construction program in partnership with the national construction industry, along with reduced IRS and IRC rates for rental, applicable to the “generality of the Portuguese middle class”.
A fiscal stimulus aimed at the construction of housing dedicated to rental (exemption from IMT, IMI, IRC, IRS and reduced VAT), tax-deductible income insurance and the creation of a public rental guarantee for young people and families in housing need are also proposals put forward by the signatory associations.
For AICCOPN, ALP, APEMIP, APFIPP and APPII, these measures are “fundamental to establishing a rental market under conditions of trust, which ensure an expanded market and an effective solution for millions of Portuguese families”.