“We have 632 registered visitors for the ‘Moving to Portugal Show’ on Thursday in London, marking the highest number recorded so far, about 15% more than at the April event,” disclosed the director, Christina Hippisley.
The growing number of inquiries from Scots led the Chamber of Commerce to schedule an event in Edinburgh for the first time on November 21, following a repeat in Dublin in April.
Since 2018, over 10,000 people have attended the Chamber of Commerce’s events and seminars on Moving to Portugal, where they can connect with real estate agents, tax consultants, lawyers, financial institutions, and other experts.
“Portugal attracts a wide variety of people—retirees, remote workers, families, and investors,” emphasized Hippisley, highlighting the importance of factors such as “excellent air connections,” safety, quality of life, and favorable climate.
The rise in real estate prices in Portugal has not diminished British interest because it “continues to represent good value for money” and offers positive profit prospects compared to other European countries.
“Many people in the UK have also benefited from an increase in property values, rising incomes, and strengthening investment portfolios,” Hippisley pointed out.
After the Algarve, Lisbon and Porto are the favored destinations for Britons looking to live or invest, rather than just holiday.
Since the UK’s departure from the European Union in 2020, known as ‘Brexit’, many British citizens have relocated to Portugal to take advantage of tax benefits available for non-habitual residents and holders of various work visas.
Christina Hippisley confirms that there is a growing desire to purchase homes to live in Portugal, but the advantages offered by ‘gold’ visas are “just an additional benefit.”
“Although British residents are currently among the top five nationalities receiving the ‘gold’ visa in Portugal, we still find among our audience that this is not a decisive factor,” she mentioned.
Residence Permits for Investment Activity (known as ‘gold’ visas) allow holders to live and work in Portugal, travel within the Schengen Area without a visa, benefit from family reunification, and apply for Portuguese nationality after five years if certain conditions are met.
The United Kingdom was the second largest source of tourists in 2024 (3.5 million), according to the National Institute of Statistics, and the fourth largest immigrant community (around 58,000 residents) in Portugal, according to the Agency for Integration, Migrations and Asylum (AIMA).
The Chamber of Commerce estimates that 30,000 more Britons own properties or spend part of the year in the country.
