Landlords with rents dating back to 1990 will be able to apply to the IHRU (Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation) for compensation from July 2024, according to a statement from the Ministry of Housing.
The information came after the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, promulgated the law allowing this compensation.
The Mais Habitação program “decided to create a compensation mechanism for landlords, and to this end the government requested an independent study to support the best solution”.
Thus, in the Decree-Law now enacted, “it was decided to maintain the value of rents and implement compensation for landlords, up to a limit of 1/15 of the taxable value (VPT) of the leased property”.
According to the executive, “this compensation corresponds to the difference between the monthly rent charged and this limit, and no personal income tax or social security contributions will be levied on it”.
As a result, “without prejudice to the updating of the rent to the inflation rate in 2024, landlords will be able to submit their request for compensation to the IHRU, I.P. as of July of that year”.
“This law represents the culmination of the government’s work aimed at finding a structural solution that would guarantee a fair and balanced resolution for tenants and landlords,” reads the same note.
The government recalled that the Mais Habitação (More Housing) program sought to “guarantee the security of tenants by not transitioning these contracts to the New Urban Lease Regime, in particular by continuing to protect tenants aged 65 or over, with a proven disability or in a situation of economic need”, as well as “compensating landlords, through the IMI and IRS Exemption for these contracts, already provided for in the State Budget for 2024”.
The aim is to “give stability and predictability to these rental relationships, allowing rents to be updated under the same conditions as other contracts”.
