Thanks for another well-researched article. I hope you're right about the possible increase in long-term furnished rentals. We had real problems finding apartments to rent in Porto and Lisbon/Cascais. Your points about the tax inequity are spot on. It should be no surprise that the short-term rentals increased when they were effectively incentivized by the lower tax rate. Anticipating the unintended consequences is something that legislators around the world seem unable to do well.
Excellent post. Love getting into the nitty gritty details of this. Also, I love your digressions, in this case DeSantis. Clearly you have not stopped following the news in the country you left behind because of the big right turn it took in 2016. You made a good decision then.
AirB&B's have been a serious problem everywhere. These units are often unlicensed, located in residential neighborhoods unaccustomed to such visitors, attract some who have no consideration for their neighbors regarding noise, traffic an parking. Many municipalities are struggling to come up with rules and regs to manage the impact of these "pop up" accommodations on their communities.
I am living in Santa Luzia but come to VRSA 3-4 times/week….coffee would be great….and I was thinking about coming, tomorrow am, to check out pickle ball. We could make a plan then, if that works. If not, I am wide open!😎
Good news. I am sad to see the destruction of communities world wide from over use of AirBnB. Boise has been negatively effected by this. It's nearly impossible to find a reasonably priced apartment here now. And when I finally make the leap, I shall look forward to benefitting from this new ruling. I commend the Portuguese government for considering the larger social picture over immediate individual, personal benefit.
I hope you don´t be upset with my comment but I must disagree concerning the tax matter. Actually, it´s not correct to compare short and long term rentals because they are different. On this one you do not have any obligations than keeping the building suitable to be livable. On the other one, besides that, you have to pay the bills of water, eletricity, gaz, internet and assure that the house/flat is clean to receive the guests. So, taking that in account, believe me, it´s fair that there is a inferior tax rate for de short term rental. In my opinion, the solution for the lack of long term rental can not be banning the legal short term one.
Nevertheless, I enjoy reading your texts and wish you all the best!
FL, thank you for your comment. I welcome your feedback, and I appreciate the respectful way you offered it. Yes I certainly understand that one cannot compare the cost associated with short term rentals to that of long term. And the government should not be able to change practices retroactively when investors have spent money in good faith. At the same time, perhaps we should look for some compromise or accommodation (excuse the pun).
Make sure you let us know. We would love to sit and chat, or join us for pickleball on Thursday! Email me if you want to get together. ncwhitemant@gmail.com
I will never stay in an Airbnb and am doing what I can to eliminate this business, this is the worst possible idea anyone has ever come up with. It has completely destroyed most of the towns in western Montana. We bought an old house in a quiet neighborhood 20 years ago thinking that we would not have to contend with crowds of idiots, then came this and completely destroyed any sense of normalcy in our neighborhood. Traffic, noise, no where for the local slave labor to live. This was a bad idea and one that never should have been allowed. This is what hotels are for, I didnt move to my neighborhood to live next to a god damn motel six. No wonder these countries are not down for more tourists, this ruins entire towns. If you own a piece of property anywhere think about your neighborhood and your neighbors, do you want a neighbor that hates you and will take advantage of any opportunity to screw you because that’s what you’ll get if you set on of these up. Go to a motel, hotel enough with the stupid Airbnb crap.
Another couple of points - hotels in the Old City of Lisbon far outnumber AL in relation to the number of beds, and the physical space they occupy. Old buildings refurbished into new hotels that were once residential apartments have diminished residences in the Old City to a greater degree than AL. These hotels are owned by the super rich who have friends in high places, and hotels continue to be built at a rapid rate in Lisbon - seemingly under the radar. You’ll find the media conspicuously silent about this! 🤔 Most AL owners are in fact Portuguese families who had family property and took advantage of the AL opportunity. It is an important revenue source for them and justified. International investment was driven by property developers and estate agents who bought low and priced with extremely high profit margins and laughed all the way to the bank. Needing to qualify for Golden Visa euro value threshold also caused property prices to increase dramatically - foreigners requested prices of property to be increased to qualify. These are some of the factors which caused property prices to increase and resulted in more AL properties. It seems there’s been an oversight of government policies as far as housing is concerned. It would be interesting to establish just how many AL’s in Lisbon are owned by Portuguese citizens. Airbnb in Portugal is the diversion (in my view) away from the ever encroaching hotel industry and the failure of housing policy. Sure the success of Airbnb has some drawbacks, but there is much support for retaining AL in Portugal by the Portuguese. Various political parties have different opinions but the truth is they are a key revenue driver for GDP. And an AL license can’t legally be revoked once granted. There’s also electioneering to consider...🤥
I have to agree, Airbnb is destroying neighborhoods all over the world. The uber rich can buy 10 properties, then oursouce the labor to shady companies who provide poor service and rip off customers. These homes could be used for locals. Or even for individuals to make some income, but its gone way too far. I hope the ban them all entirely. Hotels are now better value anyway.
I'm not sure why Substack suddenly grabs an "old" post and puts it in someone's feed...I was looking at old posts the other night and thought "oh well, nothing has changed". I read with sadness this morning that a woman could not call a neighbor to help her lift her husband who had fallen because all the apartments in her neighborhood were now ALs.
Nancy,
Thanks for another well-researched article. I hope you're right about the possible increase in long-term furnished rentals. We had real problems finding apartments to rent in Porto and Lisbon/Cascais. Your points about the tax inequity are spot on. It should be no surprise that the short-term rentals increased when they were effectively incentivized by the lower tax rate. Anticipating the unintended consequences is something that legislators around the world seem unable to do well.
Excellent post. Love getting into the nitty gritty details of this. Also, I love your digressions, in this case DeSantis. Clearly you have not stopped following the news in the country you left behind because of the big right turn it took in 2016. You made a good decision then.
It will be interesting to see if the prices start to shift in the condo market due to this new ruling.
AirB&B's have been a serious problem everywhere. These units are often unlicensed, located in residential neighborhoods unaccustomed to such visitors, attract some who have no consideration for their neighbors regarding noise, traffic an parking. Many municipalities are struggling to come up with rules and regs to manage the impact of these "pop up" accommodations on their communities.
Having a coffee in the VRSA plaza when your email popped up! Timely experience!😎
Toby are you living in VRSA? If ao let’s have a coffee…
Hi Nancy,
I am living in Santa Luzia but come to VRSA 3-4 times/week….coffee would be great….and I was thinking about coming, tomorrow am, to check out pickle ball. We could make a plan then, if that works. If not, I am wide open!😎
That would be great! I can meet you for coffee in the square than walk to pickleball. Want to meet at 10:00 in front of the church?
Super…see you in front of the church @ 10.
Good news. I am sad to see the destruction of communities world wide from over use of AirBnB. Boise has been negatively effected by this. It's nearly impossible to find a reasonably priced apartment here now. And when I finally make the leap, I shall look forward to benefitting from this new ruling. I commend the Portuguese government for considering the larger social picture over immediate individual, personal benefit.
I hope you don´t be upset with my comment but I must disagree concerning the tax matter. Actually, it´s not correct to compare short and long term rentals because they are different. On this one you do not have any obligations than keeping the building suitable to be livable. On the other one, besides that, you have to pay the bills of water, eletricity, gaz, internet and assure that the house/flat is clean to receive the guests. So, taking that in account, believe me, it´s fair that there is a inferior tax rate for de short term rental. In my opinion, the solution for the lack of long term rental can not be banning the legal short term one.
Nevertheless, I enjoy reading your texts and wish you all the best!
FL, thank you for your comment. I welcome your feedback, and I appreciate the respectful way you offered it. Yes I certainly understand that one cannot compare the cost associated with short term rentals to that of long term. And the government should not be able to change practices retroactively when investors have spent money in good faith. At the same time, perhaps we should look for some compromise or accommodation (excuse the pun).
Thank you for your time!
Another useful article! I’m arrived in Tavira yesterday and am slowly heading your way.
Make sure you let us know. We would love to sit and chat, or join us for pickleball on Thursday! Email me if you want to get together. ncwhitemant@gmail.com
I will never stay in an Airbnb and am doing what I can to eliminate this business, this is the worst possible idea anyone has ever come up with. It has completely destroyed most of the towns in western Montana. We bought an old house in a quiet neighborhood 20 years ago thinking that we would not have to contend with crowds of idiots, then came this and completely destroyed any sense of normalcy in our neighborhood. Traffic, noise, no where for the local slave labor to live. This was a bad idea and one that never should have been allowed. This is what hotels are for, I didnt move to my neighborhood to live next to a god damn motel six. No wonder these countries are not down for more tourists, this ruins entire towns. If you own a piece of property anywhere think about your neighborhood and your neighbors, do you want a neighbor that hates you and will take advantage of any opportunity to screw you because that’s what you’ll get if you set on of these up. Go to a motel, hotel enough with the stupid Airbnb crap.
Another couple of points - hotels in the Old City of Lisbon far outnumber AL in relation to the number of beds, and the physical space they occupy. Old buildings refurbished into new hotels that were once residential apartments have diminished residences in the Old City to a greater degree than AL. These hotels are owned by the super rich who have friends in high places, and hotels continue to be built at a rapid rate in Lisbon - seemingly under the radar. You’ll find the media conspicuously silent about this! 🤔 Most AL owners are in fact Portuguese families who had family property and took advantage of the AL opportunity. It is an important revenue source for them and justified. International investment was driven by property developers and estate agents who bought low and priced with extremely high profit margins and laughed all the way to the bank. Needing to qualify for Golden Visa euro value threshold also caused property prices to increase dramatically - foreigners requested prices of property to be increased to qualify. These are some of the factors which caused property prices to increase and resulted in more AL properties. It seems there’s been an oversight of government policies as far as housing is concerned. It would be interesting to establish just how many AL’s in Lisbon are owned by Portuguese citizens. Airbnb in Portugal is the diversion (in my view) away from the ever encroaching hotel industry and the failure of housing policy. Sure the success of Airbnb has some drawbacks, but there is much support for retaining AL in Portugal by the Portuguese. Various political parties have different opinions but the truth is they are a key revenue driver for GDP. And an AL license can’t legally be revoked once granted. There’s also electioneering to consider...🤥
See the Pickle ball comments any similar options for ping pong?
I have not come across table tennis tables…sorry
Can you suggest someone to contact for long term rentals in the VRSA area. We wanted to look at the possibility of D7 visa.
Thanks
Yes, email me at ncwhiteman@gmail.com so I can provide phone numbers.
I have to agree, Airbnb is destroying neighborhoods all over the world. The uber rich can buy 10 properties, then oursouce the labor to shady companies who provide poor service and rip off customers. These homes could be used for locals. Or even for individuals to make some income, but its gone way too far. I hope the ban them all entirely. Hotels are now better value anyway.
Actually we choose to book at Airbnb’s when we are planning an extended stays (e.g. >7 days). But i certainly understand the concern.
VRSA is small, hence there aren’t as many accommodations there.
Yes, but as we discussed in a prior post...many of the listing on Idealista attempt to exclude June-August.
Funny, this post came up on my Substack news feed today. Are the taxes/laws in Lisbon still the same?
I'm not sure why Substack suddenly grabs an "old" post and puts it in someone's feed...I was looking at old posts the other night and thought "oh well, nothing has changed". I read with sadness this morning that a woman could not call a neighbor to help her lift her husband who had fallen because all the apartments in her neighborhood were now ALs.
Change is the only constant. Investing in real estate is always a gamble in the short-term … and life is short.