'New rules for housing - no 'golden' visas'

The issuance of new "golden visas" has been finalized in Portugal. With the entry into force of the counter-version program "Mais Habitação - Law No. 56/2023 was published on October 6, 2023 and entered into force the following day - new residence permits for investment activities, the so-called "golden visas" (Golden Visa), are no longer accepted. The program was launched in October 2012 to attract foreign investment into the country.

"No new applications for residence permits for investment activities will be accepted," Law No. 56/2023 states. The document also states that the measure "does not affect the possibility of renewing residence permits for investment activities when such permits have been issued under the''by the government and approved by parliament with only PS votes, coming into force almost eight months after the program was presented by the government on February 16.

The package was eventually approved by a majority of Socialists in parliament on July 19, but it still had to withstand a veto by the president, who in August''returned it to MPs, expressing a negative opinion on the proposed measures and criticizing the lack of political consensus on the issue. The PS said it would again accept the proposal without changes, which it did after a second debate in Parliament on September 22. In response to the presidential veto, Housing Minister Marina Gonsalves said the government's proposal had been "thought out" and took into account different opinions.

The most controversial and contested Mais Habitação measures include suspending the registration of new hotel properties outside low-density zones and imposing an additional fee for this venture, forcing empty homes to be rented for more than two years and limiting the value of new leases for existing dwellings''in the market. The package also includes exemption from taxation of income from the sale of real estate to the state, an end to new golden visas, an increase in the dependent's deduction under the municipal property tax (IMI) for families, changes to the autonomous rate on rental property income and a tax exemption for owners who withdraw their homes from hotel accommodation by the end of 2024.

The government's measures have also sparked protests on the streets, where tens of thousands of people took to the streets for a rally on September 30, demanding "housing for life" and a "planet for habitation".