The Office of the Ombudsman has identified both design flaws and digital processing issues in the system for accessing and receiving compensation payments, according to a communication sent to the Secretary of State for Housing, Patrícia Gonçalves Costa, and the media.
As highlighted by Deputy Ombudsman Estrela Chaby, compensation payments have been delayed by more than seven months as of February 2025, despite legal guidelines mandating a decision period of 30 days from the request receipt date.
The Ombudsman’s office, noting an increase in complaints, has flagged challenges like access difficulties to the regime, the procedure’s exclusively digital nature, the lack of effective support channels for applicants, and the absence of legal provisions for compensatory interest for delayed payments as major concerns.
“The Ombudsman stresses that digital-only access is not legally mandated and poses a genuine barrier to support, especially for older landlords with limited digital skills,” it stated.
In response, the entity has called upon the Secretary of State for Housing to swiftly address the identified issues and specifically proposed the urgent creation of non-digital access alternatives and the introduction of a provision to ensure interest payments when the state fails to meet its legal deadlines.
During a specialized review of the State Budget proposal for 2025 in November, the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, announced plans to change the process of providing support to landlords with old rent contracts, describing the current model as “cumbersome and slow.”
According to the minister, approximately 4,000 applications had been submitted to the Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU), a figure deemed “laughable” compared to around 120,000 old rent contracts.
The minister also noted that about 21,000 landlords had requested proof from the Tax Authority (AT) confirming their old contract status, leading to congestion at the AT. Consequently, there is consideration to eliminate this requirement, given existing methods to determine if a contract pre-dates 1990.
The communication from the Ombudsman’s office pointed out that the entities involved, specifically the IHRU and the AT, were not consulted before the law’s approval to evaluate the adequacy of existing resources for the proposed tasks.
Compensation for landlords with pre-1990 rents not transitioned to the New Urban Lease Regime is outlined under the decree-law effective since the end of the previous year.
Applications for this compensation began in early July via the Housing Portal and must include several documents, such as proof of the lease contract registration with the Tax Authority, a request for exemption from Municipal Property Tax (IMI) filed through the Finance Portal, an electronic rent receipt or Model 44 (for non-electronic receipts), and the urban property booklet verifying the property’s taxable value as of December 28, 2023.
The landlord’s support entails compensation equivalent to the difference between the rent value and 1/15 of the property’s taxable patrimonial value (VPT).
