Dear property owner,
We have recently informed you about the problem arisen as a result of inspections carried out by the Min. of Economics. Rental agents as well as property owners have been fined, for which reason we had to decide to postpone our rental activities through our agency. The last couple of weeks meetings have taken place at the highest regional level in order to make the authorities aware of the enormous impact these action can have on Algarves economy, nearly totally depending on tourism.Recently during a forum organised by Network the authorities have been questioned about this urgent matter. You will find a report on this meeting below. Furthermore other organisations have asked the authorities to look urgently into this matter and we have been promised that we can expect a first briefing from the council of Presidents of the Algarve early March.
Property licensing
The hottest topic of discussion, however, seemed to be the licensing of property for rental and the recent spate of inspections being made at villa rental agencies (see January 20 issue of The Resident). According to the numerous members of the audience who stood up to pose questions, hefty fines have recently been handed out for non-compliance with legislation which is only recently being reinforced and which many claim to be unfairly obstructive and unworkable.
Other members of the audience were keen to know if their existing licences were now invalid due to the transfer in administration from the Direcção Geral de Turismo to local câmaras. It must be said that the panel appeared to be rather confused and unable to supply definitive answers.
Hélder Martins took the opportunity to make it clear that he is strongly in favour of there being controls in place to monitor the rental of private accommodation. He cited the fact that when fatal accidents happen due to faulty appliances in the home, bad publicity affects the region as a whole. He also pointed out that more often than not, in such situations, the finger of blame is often pointed at the tourism board, whether the property in question was licensed or not. He did not, however, comment specifically on the existing legislation for the licensing of rental properties.
Dennis Swin
Contact me
145-E
