Government reforms rental laws and corrects property tax errors
The government approved changes to the New Urban Lease Regime (Novo Regime do Arrendamento Urbano or NRAU), allowing landlords to initiate eviction proceedings after two months of rent arrears instead of three. Additionally, the Tax Authority (Autoridade Tributária or AT) admitted to incorrectly charging the Municipal Property Tax (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis or IMI) on properties with pre-1990 rental contracts and committed to issuing refunds.
Update: Government rental reforms face intense opposition
The new rental rules have sparked criticism from opposition parties, including the Socialist Party (Partido Socialista or PS) and the Portuguese Communist Party (Partido Comunista Português or PCP). Critics argue the measures, which include removing the 2% annual rent increase cap and easing eviction rules for older contracts, will harm vulnerable tenants and push more people into housing insecurity.
The NRAU is the Novo Regime do Arrendamento Urbano (New Urban Lease Regime), the legal regime that reformed Portugal's urban rental law and governs most residential leases. A ten‑year moratorium on applying some of its rules to older contracts has expired, which has allowed landlords to pursue repossession cases such as the order for Casa Pereira da Conceição to vacate.
Housing fiscal measures are government tax changes or incentives aimed at the property market — examples include changes to property tax (IMI Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis), stamp or transfer taxes (IMT Imposto Municipal sobre Transmissões Onerosas de Imóveis) and income‑tax (IRS Imposto sobre o Rendimento das Pessoas Singulares) deductions for renovations or rental incentives. The estimated €200–300 million budgetary cost shows the measures have a meaningful impact on public finances and signals whether the government is prioritising tax relief for homeowners, landlords or construction, which can affect property prices and rental markets that matter to expats.
Health cards are private membership or discount schemes sold by companies that offer access to consultations, tests or reduced fees at private clinics; they are not the public health service. The Socialist Party (Partido Socialista or PS) has proposed regulation to increase transparency and protect consumers from misleading marketing or unexpected charges.
António Filipe is a politician from the PCP (Partido Comunista Português) who, in this story, acknowledged that his election results fell short and said the party would join forces to oppose what it called a 'serious threat to democracy'. His remarks indicate the PCP intends to be active in post-election alliances rather than withdrawing from national debates. Voters and those following left-wing politics should pay attention to his and the PCP's next moves.
