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more on tourist property licences
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Mike,Chislehurst
- CVO Master
- Posts: 974
- Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 6:15 pm
- Location: Chislehurst, Kent
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R.Wethereyet
- CVO Senior
- Posts: 224
- Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:59 pm
- Location: Carvoeiro
I have just spent the afternoon with two Portuguese friends, one a lawyer, the other a civil engineer who works as a consultant for several Camaras.
We were discussing the situation regarding property rental licencing, and the opinion from both of them, was that the law was written to prevent private owners from gaining their licences, rather than to regulate the rental market.
One felt the stipulations regarding health and safety, together with the long winded process were too onerous and costly for private owners to undertake, and that many would decide to sell up.
Both had been asked by overseas clients to assist in the securing of licences, but as yet neither has been able to secure even one licence.
Apart from the lack of help and advice they got from the Camaras etc (and they are both Portuguese) the other main problems they mentioned were that there seems to be little or no differentiation between the H&S directives for a hotel/aparthotel and those required for a private apartment or villa. For example, fire exit routes/signs, emergency lighting, hard wired smoke/fire sensors and exterior alarms, fire extinguishers, fire blankets, to name but a few.
They also felt that the situation would not improve in the near future, nor would the government contemplate an about turn, or even relax their stance as this would be yet another ‘Egg on Face’ blunder they had to admit to.
It was even commented on, that maybe the Ultra Right Wing party’s view of ‘Portugal for Portuguese’ was being assisted by the government, only they were doing it by way of a law that could prompt ex-pats to start selling up and moving away.
The lawyer, who is very proud to be Portuguese, stated that even he was becoming disillusioned with the way things were going.
We were discussing the situation regarding property rental licencing, and the opinion from both of them, was that the law was written to prevent private owners from gaining their licences, rather than to regulate the rental market.
One felt the stipulations regarding health and safety, together with the long winded process were too onerous and costly for private owners to undertake, and that many would decide to sell up.
Both had been asked by overseas clients to assist in the securing of licences, but as yet neither has been able to secure even one licence.
Apart from the lack of help and advice they got from the Camaras etc (and they are both Portuguese) the other main problems they mentioned were that there seems to be little or no differentiation between the H&S directives for a hotel/aparthotel and those required for a private apartment or villa. For example, fire exit routes/signs, emergency lighting, hard wired smoke/fire sensors and exterior alarms, fire extinguishers, fire blankets, to name but a few.
They also felt that the situation would not improve in the near future, nor would the government contemplate an about turn, or even relax their stance as this would be yet another ‘Egg on Face’ blunder they had to admit to.
It was even commented on, that maybe the Ultra Right Wing party’s view of ‘Portugal for Portuguese’ was being assisted by the government, only they were doing it by way of a law that could prompt ex-pats to start selling up and moving away.
The lawyer, who is very proud to be Portuguese, stated that even he was becoming disillusioned with the way things were going.
well perhaps next time your in a portuguese seaside town and you see a sign "rooms for hire" obviously run by someone local, then make a note of all the details and send it to this authority...after all in a single european market the benefits and of course the fines must be shared by everyone equaly
I myself run a travel agency, and have secured a lawyer who has been looking at this for over a year now. The basic "non-official" answer is keep your head down until this blows over, or until they find something else to chase up! Officially there is a new draught of the law in the process of being written, it should go to parlament for approval sometime towards the end of this summer......of course there is no guarantee it will pass, but it is a tiny step in the right direction. 
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Mike,Chislehurst
- CVO Master
- Posts: 974
- Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 6:15 pm
- Location: Chislehurst, Kent
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We applied for a license last year when this kicked off, nothing to hide, the villa is the same as built, we would like a license. Our management agent has had various questions thrown back and answered, they threw even more questions and answered. Then they threw some more in March and were answered. I've seen the reems of paperwork for our villa and 30 others. All the same! Not sure of the latest correspondence if any, but I bet it's more questions if there is.
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algarveres
- CVO Newbie
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:50 am
maybe all our 'voices' nearly (20,000 comments) should become one voice?... pm me your contact email'sbife73 wrote:Officially there is a new draught of the law in the process of being written, it should go to parlament for approval sometime towards the end of this summer......of course there is no guarantee it will pass, but it is a tiny step in the right direction.