The Council of Ministers approved a set of measures that seek to respond to housing problems in Portugal.
Four measures should be highlighted, namely:
- Use of classified land or real estate licensed for commerce/services for construction and provision of land or buildings for housing in order to increase the offer for housing;
- Financial penalties for public entities that do not respect the legal deadlines in what concerns licensing and exemption of licensing for architectural projects;
- Reinforcement of tax incentives, with exemption from IMT on the acquisition of houses with the purpose of affordable renting. Also, in the rehabilitation works in these houses, VAT is 6%, and there will be a total exemption from IRS on property income. For all types of leases, the 28% rate drops to 25%. Finally, incentives for stability in lease contracts are reinforced: if the contract is between 5 and 10 years, the 23% rate will drop to 15%; if it is between 10 and 20 years, the rate of 14% will drop to 10%; and if it is more than 20 years, it will drop from 10% to 5%.
- Reduction of household debt is the fourth measure that deserves to be highlighted. Exemption from capital gains tax on the sale of a house will be allowed to amortize the home loan of the owner or his descendant. It is also determined that all financial institutions that offer real estate credit must offer credit at a fixed rate.