Regulations Covering Local Tourist Accommodations to Change Next Week

21 October 2018

The new law covering local tourist accommodations will come into force on Tuesday, October 23. The major most significant changes, however, will be to establishments that are registered after that date. There will be fewer changes for existing operations.

The changes to the regulations covering local tourist accommodations (AL) have been controversial. Much of them have moved ahead regardless, granting more power to city councils and condominiums which may now limit the registration of new establishments.

  1. All Types of Temporary Accommodations Must Be Now Classified as Local Accommodations

The changes to the legislation covering the sector already begin with its name and definition. As of Tuesday, local tourist accommodations will be considered anything that provides temporary accommodation services in return for payment. In other words, not just for tourists. If you now want to rent a room in your home, for whatever purpose, you also have to register as an AL, and you can only have three units. Moreover, whoever wants to rent a single apartment in a building will also have to register as AL. Consequently, hostels, flats, lodgings and rooms are all therefore required to have the respective sign outside.

  1. Condominiums Gain Powers
  • Must authorise the installation of hostels

People who want to set up a hostel in a horizontally-owned building with long-term housing must ask for authorisation from the condominium board. According to Patrícia Viana, a partner at Abreu Advogados, the targeted measure was taken because hostels are considered to be disruptive to the remaining condominium owners.

  • Request closure of AL

In addition to authorising the installation of hostels, condominium owners may oppose the installation or request the cancellation of an existing AL that is installed in an apartment in a building, but only “in the case of repeated acts that preclude or disturb the condominium owners’ normal enjoyment of the building,” says Patrícia Viana. More than half the tenants must vote in favour of closing the existing operation, which must then be communicated to the local authority.

  • Increase contributions

The owner of an AL within a building may have to pay an excess fee of up to 30% of the annual condominium fee if the joint owners so agree.

  1. City Councils Also Gain New Powers
  • Supervise, suspend and cancel

In addition to the ASAE, city councils will also be able to monitor compliance with the AL regime and may also determine the closure or temporary suspension of a particular operation. This suspension “may be enacted, for example, whenever a failure to comply with applicable legal provisions may jeopardise users’ safety or public health,” says Patrícia Viana, noting, however, that this “temporary ban does not lead to” the cancellation of the AL registration.

  • Approve and reject new registrations

So far, people who wanted to register an AL simply had to notify Turismo de Portugal. However, as of Tuesday, all new registrations must first be submitted to the local city council, which will have ten days (20 days in the case of hostels) to decide whether or not to accept the new registration.

  • Limiting new ALs in “containment zones”

The new legislation creates “containment zones” where the installation of new ALs must have the approval of the local authority and “where a single owner may only operate a maximum of seven local accommodation establishments,” explains Patrícia Viana. However, this only applies to new establishments. An owner who already has more than seven ALs within containment zones can keep them.

According to the attorney, “the ultimate objective of this measure will be to limit the number of local accommodation establishments in certain geographical areas.” Lisbon and Porto, where the number of such accommodations has increased the most, have already begun to define their areas of contention.”

About a week ago, the Lisbon City Council announced that it would suspend new registrations in the districts of Madragoa, Castelo, Alfama, Mouraria and Bairro Alto. The suspension will be re-evaluated after one year, according to the law.

  1. How Will the Law Affect Existing ALs?

Existing registrations will remain as they are. They must, however, incorporate the changes to the regulations within two years of the date of entry into force of this law, i.e. until October 23, 2020. Existing owners will have to contract multi-risk insurance, post AL identification plates and the pay the increased contributions to their respective condominiums.

According to Patrícia Viana, such “safeguards” are very common in the law because “consolidated and existing operations cannot be affected by future changes, which the holders could not have been aware of. It is a mechanism to protect expectations, guaranteeing legal certainty.”

Other Changes

The deadline for reporting AL closures was decreased from 60 to 10 days

The maximum occupancy for any establishments was maintained: nine rooms and 30 guests.

Local Accommodation units will be obliged to have an information booklet in at least four languages: Portuguese, English and two foreign languages.

The law is also increasing fines in case of non-compliance from €2,500 to €4,000 in the case of individuals and from €25,000 to €40,000 in the case of a company

All operators are required to have multi-risk insurance.

Original Story: Jornal Expresso – Ana Baptista

Photo: Inês Duque

Translation: Richard Turner