LOCAL HOUSING LICENSES IN PORTO DOWN

The number of new local housing license applications in the municipality of Porto fell by 40% in the first quarter of 2019. Tourism in the city remains in very good health, however, and its growth is still on track for 2019, said the president of the Local Housing Association in Portugal, Eduardo Miranda.

In the 1st quarter of 2019 the city of Porto registered 334 applications for local housing licenses. In 2018 at the same period Porto had registered 559 license applications. 

The number of license applications has been rising steadily since 2015, a scenario that now seems to be reversing. For the president of ALEPThis means that the market has reached its maturity, which is a "positive sign", the market could not grow from 30 to 40% each year.

Containment measures under study 

Rui Moreira, president of the CMP, recently indicated that he was ready to implement "containment measures" to limit the demand for local housing licenses in the historic center of Porto, following a study conducted by the Center for Research in Management and Applied Economics (CEGEA) of the Catholic University of Porto.

As of October 21, 2018, the changes legislative to the AL regime require that municipalities and condominium owners' assemblies be able to intervene in the authorization of the activity, enabling the setting up of "containment zones" to "preserve the social reality of neighborhoods and places".