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06 MAY| Regulation for the Sustainable Growth of Local Accommodation in Porto takes effect!

The city of Porto has once again accepted new registrations for Local Accommodation, at least in part of the city. After being available for public consultation, the final version of the Regulation for the Sustainable Growth of Local Accommodation, which was drawn up and approved by the Municipal Assembly, came into force this past Tuesday, May 4th 2023, thus differentiating “areas of sustainable growth” and “containment areas” according to the pressure verified in each parish.

With the Regulation now approved, Ricardo Valente, councilor responsible for the Economy of the Porto City Council, considers that “This is a balanced Regulation that seeks to manage the city as a whole and treat local accommodation as essential”.

In sustainable growth areas, new AL registrations continues to be approved in the same way, through the AMA [Agency for Administrative Modernization] website, which has 10 working days to approve, or not, each of the new AL registrations; while in the containment zones, the registration of new ALs will now have to be carried out with the Cabinet of the Municipality “in an area of its own” created by the municipality “with different rules”, with a deadline of 60 days for approval, because “We will have to analyse whether each new entrance fits in the exceptions that we are putting on the table”, as explained Ricardo Valente.

As previously mentioned, this Regulation once again divides the vast center of the Invicta city into the former Parishes, distinguishing “areas of containment” and “areas of sustainable growth“, according to the ratio between the number of ALs and options for permanent housing or long-term lease duration, in each former parish, is greater or less than 15%.

As “areas of sustainable growth”, the regulation considers Aldoar, Bonfim, Campanhã, Foz do Douro, Lordelo do Ouro, Massarelos, Paranhos, Nevogilde, Ramalde and Cedofeita.

In the historic center of Porto, only the parish of Cedofeita is considered a “sustainable growth area” in the new Regulation, while the parishes of Vitória (60.5%), São Nicolau (48.3%), Sé (44.1 %), Santo Ildefonso (38.3%) and Miragaia (21.8%) are considered “containment areas“.

In these areas of higher “pressure”, the “balance between the offer of local accommodation and accommodation intended for housing” must be guaranteed, in a distribution that guarantees 50% housing and 20% affordable housing.

However, the registration of new AL in the “containment areas” may be exceptionally authorized, if urban operations are at stake relating to new buildings or buildings subject to conservation works that the municipality “considers of special interest for the city ”. Among the exceptions, the new Regulation also highlights requests that aim to occupy all or part of buildings that have been completely vacant for more than three years.

This ends the suspension of new ALs in Cedofeita and Bonfim, which had been in effect since October last year.

Source: Portal do Município, Porto.pt>Economia

13 JAN| New Regulation approved: new Local Accommodations are once again possible in the center of Porto! But there are conditions to know...

The new Regulation was presented and approved today, which defines the creation of Sustainable Growth Areas for Local Accommodation instead of its total suspension. The new registration of LAs in the city center is permitted again, but with restrictions in some areas, the so-called “containment zones“.

The new document was just approved today with the Left Bloc voting against and the PS and CDU abstaining, and is now under public consultation to collect suggestions. Thus, the municipality now retreats in relation to the total suspension imposed at the end of last year, in the sense of “valuing projects that add value to the city, from the point of view of its rehabilitation and urban regeneration“. According to Ricardo Valente, the Councilor for Finance, Economic Activities and Inspection, it is not intended to prohibit Local Accommodation. “It is possible to continue to develop a tourist-friendly city, but based on a logic of a multifunctional city and not dependent on a dynamic that, if unregulated, could lead to functional hyperspecialization that would destroy the very tourist sector that the city intends to preserve”.

This Regulation again divides the vast center of the Invicta city into the former parishes that made it up, before the merger imposed by the Passos Coelho Government, distinguishing “areas of contention” and “areas of sustainable growth“, according to the pressure ratio that LAs are exercising in each parish: if it is greater than 15% or less.

Thus, the parishes of Vitória (with a ratio of 60.5%), São Nicolau (48.3%), Sé (44.1%), Santo Ildefonso (38.3%) and Miragaia (21.8%) will be considered “containment areas”, where, in general, new LA licenses will not be allowed. There are, however, some important exceptions! New licenses may also be approved in these former parishes if these are:

New buildings or buildings subject to conservation plans considered by the Municipality as “of special interest to the city”.
Urban operations that promote street commerce that occupy at least 60% of the ground floor of the building and that 20% of the remaining area “affects affordable housing for a period of not less than 25 years”.
Renovation of derelict buildings for more than three years.

Good news is that the old parishes of Aldoar (0.3%), Bonfim (8.1%), Campanhã (1%), Foz do Douro (2.6%), Lordelo do Ouro (1.1%), Massarelos (7.1%), Paranhos (1%), Nevogilde (1%), Ramalde (0.6%) and Cedofeita (9.8%) are considered as “sustainable growth areas”, as these are territories have a pressure ratio of less than 15%. That is, all new LA registrations will be allowed in these areas of the city centre.

Ricardo Valente also adds that this is a “balanced regulation that seeks to manage the city as a whole and treat Local Accommodation as essential”, adding that “the containment zones will be reviewed at least every two years”, still that the Municipality can do it before then.

Source: Portal do Município, Porto.pt>Tourism

15 NOV| New AL registrations are all suspended in the center of Porto?

This Friday, November 11, 2022, the city of Porto was chosen as the Best City Destination in the World at the World Travel Awards 2022 ceremony, in Muscat, Oman. Portugal also collected a dozen awards at this ceremony, known as the “Tourism Oscars”.

The World Travel Awards, also known as the “Tourism Oscars”, include the entire tourism sector, from hotels, destinations, airlines and tour operators, and gather annually, since 1993, the main decision-makers, relevant and prominent figures of the sector.

The voting for this 29th edition of the World Travel Awards was open to the public until October 20, and Invicta was ahead of cities such as Acapulco, Cancún and Mazatlán, Bogotá, Quito, Cape Town, Nairobi and Dubai. In addition, it was also in the running for Best Heritage City Destination in the World. In the regional aspects of the competition, Porto had already received the distinction of Best City Destination in Europe.

Another 11 awards came to Portugal, including one for Lisbon (best metropolitan seaside destination), another for Madeira (best island destination in the world), another for Passadiços do Paiva (best adventure tourist attraction in the world) , another for Parques de Sintra – Monte da Lua (best conservation company) and another for Dark Sky Alqueva (best responsible tourism in the world).

17 NOV| New AL registrations are all suspended in the center of Porto?

The answer is: more or less. Despite everything, the Municipal Regulation for the Sustainable Growth of Local Accommodation in Porto may provide for some exceptions, as was previously in force in the defined absolute containment zones, which also allow the approval of new AL registrations in the containment zones in the city centre.

Despite the immediate suspension, since October 11, 2022, of the approval of new registrations for Local Accommodation in the entire parish area of the historic center (União de Freguesias de Cedofeita, St. Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, S. Nicolau, Vitória) and the Parish of Bonfim, some specific exceptions are foreseen, such as:

Rehabilitation operations for buildings in ruins or full rehabilitation of derelict buildings;
Operations that refer to the entirety of a building that has been declared completely vacant for more than three years or has been the subject of rehabilitation works carried out in the last two years, which has allowed two levels of conservation to be raised.

In addition, new hotels and other tourist developments are not prohibited.

If you are in doubt and need our advice and help, please do not hesitate to contact us.

15 NOV| New registrations for suspended AL apartments in the parishes of Porto city center and Bonfim

Last Friday, October 7, 2022, Porto City Council decided to take to the Municipal Assembly, the proposal to suspend the authorization of new registrations of Local Accommodation establishments in the Union of Parishes of Cedofeita, St. Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, S. Nicolau, Vitória and in the Parish of Bonfim.

This suspension will have immediate effects and “is in force for a period of six months, extendable for the same period, or, alternatively, if it occurs first, until the entry into force of the Municipal Regulation for the Sustainable Growth of Local Accommodation”, according to the proposal submitted. which was however approved in the Assembly, on the 10th of October.

From the date of announcement of the suspension, on October 4, until the deliberation in the Municipal Assembly, 946 requests were submitted for the installation of new AL in the city, of which 116 in the parishes in question.

According to Ricardo Valente, councilor for Finance, Economic Activities and Supervision, “The regulation will manage local accommodation. We are against quotas, we defend a balance between the residential function and the local accommodation function”, he explained, adding: “We were the only municipality in the country that participated in the discussion in the Assembly of the Republic. We think the AL law needs to be changed.”

On the 24th of October, in a public meeting of the Executive, a new big step was taken towards the creation of the Municipal Regulation for the Sustainable Growth of Local Accommodation in Porto. The document was submitted for public consultation on November 1, 2022, for a period of 20 working days, so that it can be “widely discussed by all those interested in this matter”.

“The constitution of interested parties or the presentation of questions, pronouncements or suggestions must be submitted through the Fale Connosco menu (Suggestion/Scope: Economic Activities » Subject: Public Discussion) of the Citizen’s Portal.

In situations where it is demonstrated that it is impossible to carry them out digitally, they can be presented in writing, at the Municipality’s Office, with the possibility of scheduling an appointment in advance through Linha Porto. +351 220 100 220, available from Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 7 pm.”

Source: Portal do Munícipe, Porto City Council