Hosted by UIPI’s Portuguese member, the Associação Lisbonense de Proprietários (Lisbon Association of Property Owners— ALP, the International “Property Day” took place in Lisbon on 26 October 2018, where the legal, economic and social challenges caused by rent control were discussed. Portugal has one of the oldest rent control systems in the world.
This over hundred-year old control law, along with sporadic rent freezes, has had a considerable impact on the Portuguese economy and its real estate market. The Economic Adjustment Programme for Portugal, put in place during the financial crisis, called for its abolition. This was meant to be done by a 2012 reform of rental law after a five-year transition period. However, the current Portuguese government has extended it for specific categories of tenants and for historical, touristic and commercial properties. The prolongation of these measures, together with other substantial reforms, such as the extension of tenants’ pre-emption right, constitute a major step backward generating a growing wave of mistrust in the Portuguese real estate sector. This was in essence the message delivered by Dr. Miguel Marques dos Santos’ Keynote intervention during the Property Day.
