Time looks like it is being called on the “alojamento local” (AL) free-for-all that has been rapidly forcing local people out of Lisbon due to the take-up by homeowners of the government scheme for tourist rentals.
Say reports this evening, Lisbon council is advancing with a study to “define maximum capacity” for each area of the capital.
A special AL checking office will also be created.
According to ECO online, the new system will be dependent on a parliamentary vote once the study by Lisbon council is completed.
But the results look likely to affect AL throughout the country.
Explains ECO online, “PS, PCP, Bloco de Esquerda and CDS-PP have all presented legislative initiatives to alter the alojamento local regime”.
The objective is to start discussions after the debate on the State Budget which will be voted on tomorrow, and then discussed in detail throughout November.
Bloco de Esquerda, for example is seeking to limit AL rentals to just 90 days of the year. Anything more than this would be considered ‘habitational tourism’ and come under a different set of rules.
The PCP is keen to tax owners who rent out in condominiums – ensuring that the condominium profits from their business – while the PS wants condominiums to get the power to authorise AL.
CDS-PP wants to see a distinction between “professionals” in the sector, and “non-professionals”.
Once the new system is up and running, the plan is for a form of municipal AL office to “check” both alojamento local and habitational tourism, “to act rapidly on householders’ complaints and remove licenses in proved cases of repeated infractions”.
This AL office has been conceived particularly for Lisbon, though it may come to be duplicated elsewhere.
