AHRESP wants changes to LA measures

A Portuguese hotel and hospitality association has again called on the Portuguese government to backtrack on changes and measures contained in its ‘More Housing’ programme that it says is seriously harmful to short term self-catering holiday lets known in Portugal as Local Accommodation.

However, the Associação da Hotelaria, Restauração e Similares de Portugal (AHRESP) welcomed on Tuesday the Portuguese President’s decision to veto the ‘More Housing’ package on the grounds that it was ineffective and too limited in scope to be able to make any substantial inroads into tackling Portugal’s chronic housing problem.
However, the government will almost certainly try use its majority in the Portuguese parliament to steamroller the measures through anyway.
Commenting on Monday’s presidential veto, the association that represents hotels, guest houses, restaurants and self-catering holiday lets, stated: “AHRESP welcomes this veto with satisfaction. It now paves the way for a fresh opportunity for discussions between all political forces and calls for a wider consensus – which the President of the Republic has also called for – so that it (the government) can modify its position on the seriously damaging measures for LA (Local Accommodation), and look instead at the real causes of the housing crisis and the role that the State can have on the matter.”
Aligned with this opinion was the Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors (APPII) which stated: “The veto from Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa does not surprise the APPII, which believes that the government’s programme will not solve the country’s housing problem.”
And continues: “This offers a fresh opportunity to design a package of measures that will really meet the needs of the Portuguese by providing more houses in the market”.
APPII President Hugo Santos Ferreira said that the veto was a “clear sign to the government from the President of the Republic that he is in disagreement with the measures that are in this legislative package under consideration, and that these measures, as communicated by the President of the Republic will not respond to the current housing crisis in a timely manner”.
“The APPII hopes that the government draws the right conclusions and does what needs to be done to create more housing for the Portuguese, through the State, private sector or housing cooperatives.”