In five of the city’s 24 municipalities, Santa Maria Maior, Misericórdia, Santo António, So Vicente, and Arroios, the councilwoman for urbanism at Lisbon City Hall proposes to prohibit new registrations of local accommodation (AL).
The proposal suggests that the areas of absolute containment of housing should correspond to parishes with a ratio between the number of residential accommodation establishments and classic family housing “equal to or greater than 15%”, applying to Santa Maria Maior (71.3%), Misericórdia (47.4%), Santo António (26.7%), So Vicente (17.3%), and Arroios (15.3%), according to Councilor for Urban Planning, Joana Almeida
At issue is the proposal to submit to public consultation, “for a period of thirty working days,” the proposed amendment to the Municipal Regulations for Local Lodging (RMAL), which will be debated at a private meeting of the municipal executive on Wednesday.
In this regard, Joana Almeida desires the relative containment areas to be parishes or communities with a ratio “equal to or greater than 5% and less than 15%”.
Estrela (11.6%), Avenidas Novas (7.1%), and Alcantara (5.4%) may be in contention at the parish level.
At the neighborhood level, there will be nine parishes with contested territories and a total of 19 neighborhoods, including six in the parish of Belém, three in Parque das Naces, two in Ajuda, two in Campo de Ourique, two in Penha de Franca, one in Beato, one in Marvila, one in Olivais, and one in Alvalade.
On the territory of Lisbon’s 24 parishes, for the monitoring of the AL, “274 neighborhoods were delimited, based on a methodology developed by the Department of Public Spaces as part of the One Square in Each Neighborhood program,” which was later modified to correspond with the statistical sub-sections of the 2021 Census.
Among the proposed modifications to the RMAL is the adequacy of the ratio between local accommodation establishments and classic dwellings, which underpins the delimitation of containment areas, at the scale of parishes and neighborhoods, which may be absolute, meaning a ban on new LAs, or relative, in which registration is restricted.
In the current RMAL, which has been in effect since November 2019, absolute containment areas are “homogeneous tourism zones that have a ratio of LA establishments to the number of permanent dwellings that is greater than 20%” and relative containment areas are those with a ratio “equal to or greater than 10% and less than 20%.”
“At a time of great sensitivity for the residential real estate market, we want to bring more stability to an activity that is essential to the income of many families and very important to the economic dynamics of Lisbon,” the councilwoman of Urbanism.
Joana Almeida emphasizes the significance of modifying the RMAL to the city’s current reality, despite the fact that the government did not consult with municipalities when preparing the Mais Habitaco package, which has a significant impact on the LA.
“We want to regulate the LA using a balanced logic. We do not want solely tourist-oriented communities. We seek equilibrium and diversity. We desire both the existence of life and the quality of life in the communities. Our proposal for revision of the Municipal Regulation for Local Lodging adheres to this principle,” says the councilwoman, emphasizing the strengthening of monitoring and supervision of this economic activity to ensure that it is legal and has a positive impact on the city without causing harm.
The responsible for Urbanism defends the creation of housing solutions for families “without using Los Angeles as a scapegoat for housing problems,” recognizing the need for trust and stability in the sector, valuing the role of economic agents, and avoiding measures that undermine trust between parties.
“We do not want the suspension of new licenses in all urban areas, which in the case of Lisbon would apply to the entire city regardless of the LA concentration in each parish and neighborhood. We oppose the application of the terms ‘extinguish,’ ‘declare caducity,’ and’re-evaluate’ arbitrarily to LA licenses. We oppose the imposition of disproportionate tax penalties on Los Angeles activity,” he states.
Among the Government’s measures in AL are the suspension of new licenses in the modalities of apartments and lodging establishments integrated in an autonomous fraction of a building, the reevaluation of current licenses in 2030, with the new ones to be valid for five years, the creation of a caducity regime for inactive licenses, and a new tax regime, which provides for a 20% extraordinary contribution or a tax exemption if the property is transferred to a telecommunications company.
