Local accommodation has boosted the price of houses by 30% since 2014 – Diário de Notícias – Lisbon

Hoteliers ask for rules more tight, calling the local authorities to assess what may or may not be for rent to tourists

it is only the lease that is more expensive with the boom of the local housing in cities such as Lisbon and Porto. The price of homes for sale increased 30% since 2014, shows a study by the New University of Lisbon at the request of the Associação da Hotelaria de Portugal.

all in all, since the change of law in November 2014, which came to facilitate the legalization and registration of accommodation to tourists, the price of houses has increased between 600 and 650 euros the square meter in areas of highest demand. Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve are among the regions most affected by this phenomenon, which did pass the average values of the sale of 2194 euros per square meter in 2011 to 2784 euros this year.

When looking at the rental market, the effect is similar: the houses are more expensive because the law made it more advantageous to open them to tourists. In regions of high local lodging there are “an estimated effect of 13.2% in the price of rent”, reveal the hoteliers, for whom the strong increase of homes for rent on a temporary basis is to achieve a “situation de rupture”.

And there are areas where the cumulative effect is already undeniable, stresses Carlos Santos, one of the responsible for the study. In Santa Maria maggiore, the parish of Bairro Alto and Chiado, or 15.1% of the homes available now are for local accommodation. And if you count with the online portals such as Airbnb, the percentage rises to 22%.

Is the area of the country with the highest concentration of offer, but not the only one. Also in Lisbon, in the parish of Mercy, which results from the aggregation of the ancient parishes of the Incarnation, Mercês, Santa Catarina and São Paulo, and 12.2% of the properties are for accommodation local to 18.5% if the base extends to online portals.

Lagos, Lagoa and Albufeira are the parishes that follow in the concentration of supply of accommodation, the Algarve accounts for more than 15 thousand houses to receive tourists. Already at the Port, the Union of the Freguesias de Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau and Vitória has 11,1% of real estate only to the accommodation location.

Cristina Siza Vieira reminds us that the accommodation must comply with the rules of order and pass a control thinner Turismo de Portugal. If possible, adds the executive chairman of the AHP, the chambers must be called to authorise the existence of these premises that, in the limit, operate in competition with the hospitality, but beyond the rules that the hoteliers are required.

These measures are among the six proposals released by the AHP to the revision of the laws of 2014, where we also include the distinction of the character of permanent housing and sporadic; suggest the authorization of the property owners for the installation of a local accommodation that operates for more than 60 consecutive days and, among others, requires reporting of operation to the National Statistics Institute to “to learn effectively the dimension” of the industry.

The National Register of Local Accommodation (RNAL) it just lets you know that there are a little over 34 thousand in Portugal, but some have not registered even the number of beds available. The AHP, with the help of the New University, it is estimated that there are 196 755 beds of accommodation for tourists in our country in the spaces recorded, against 214 774 beds hotels.

And the number can even be higher good: it is that there is a deviation of 40% between the number of premises legal and accommodation available in the various sites, which may mean that the sector has more beds available than the hotels themselves.

Ana Mendes Godinho, secretary of State for Tourism, says that the contribution of the accommodation place for the dynamism of the cities is undeniable and promises changes soon. Among others, will tighten the safety rules, posted signs of the spaces in the suburban and will increase the effectiveness of fines to anyone who is illegal.