On page 91 there is a very small change to the website for Caixa Geral de Depósitos. It is now:

http://www.cgd.pt/english/Pages/English.aspx

On page 135 I wrote:

According to the SEF (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras), the Service of Foreigners and Borders, EU citizens do not have to take out residency unless they wish to take advantage of such things as, the health system, to vote in local elections and to import a car for free from another EU country.

I recently got an update from the SEF about the residency issue and was advised that it is now compulsory for any EU citizen to register with them (or the local câmara, if they are running the new system) after being in Portugal 90 days and within 30 days. The cost of the certificate and the 10 year card, which follows the 5 year certificate, is 7 Euros.

The old rules Portugal had in place ran contrary to the free movement of EU citizens and, therefore, many people did not bother to take out residency. As the new system falls in line with EU directive 2004/38/EC it is probably advisable to obtain a certificate, if you spend more than 90 days in Portugal.

You can download the relevant application form here:

http://www.sef.pt/portal/v10/PT/aspx/apoioCliente/index.aspx#0

Go to Impressos On-line and click on the one entitled: Cartão de Residência (Pedidos/Renovação/Alteração de Dados/2ª Via) UE/EEE/Suiça e Familiares. There is a choice of Portuguese or English. However, many of the câmaras are not using this SEF form and are instead entering your details straight onto their computer systems. Enquire at your local câmara municipal in the first instance and then they will either register you or re-direct you to the nearest SEF office.

See the rest of the chapter for more information on this topic.

On Page 105 (at the very bottom) I wrote:

South: http://www.ccdr-alg.pt/ccdr/index.php

Click on Mapa do Site at the top and then on Horários de Atendimento at the bottom of the list.

This site has been revamped, so whilst you can still click on the above link and enter the site, you now only need to click on Contactos at the top for details of the Algarve offices of the Ministério do Ambiente, do Ordenamento do Território e do Desenvolvimento Regional.

Alternatively, just click here: http://www.ccdr-alg.pt/ccdr/index.php?module=PostContact

On Page 106 I wrote:

Lisboa & Tagus Valley: http://www.ccdr-lvt.pt

Click on Entrar and then on Contactos on the far right hand side.

You no longer need to Entrar, as you go straight to the home page. At the bottom of the home page, go to the left hand corner and click on Contactos for the Lisboa/Tagus Valley offices of the Ministério do Ambiente, do Ordenamento do Território e do Desenvolvimento Regional.

Alternatively, just click here: http://www.ccdr-lvt.pt/138/contactos.htm

Under a new law, Decreto-Lei nº 116/2008 of 4th July, and in accordance with the Simplex programme, new measures have been introduced to simplify the bureaucratic process of registering a property and to reduce the costs involved by about 50%. Some measures were introduced a few days ago on 21st July and others will come into effect on 1st January 2009 (also see the Casa Pronta post).

Under this new legislation, the buyer will know from the start the exact costs involved in registering a property, which up until now has been something difficult to find out with any great certainty. There will be a fixed and single price for all property transactions presented in a list showing the various items that have to be paid to the different bodies.

There will also be the elimination of the obligatory public deed and you will now be able to use any of the 337 Conservatórias de Registo Predial in Portugal to carry out the acts of buying and selling, not just your local one.

Casa Pronta is an initiative that has been running for about a year in some parts of Portugal and the government has now decided to extend it throughout the whole of Portugal in 2009 (also see the Registering A Property post).

http://www.casapronta.pt

It will allow people to do everything related to buying and selling at a single counter in the Conservatórias do Registo Predial, for example, the payment of the taxes, the contracts for buying and selling, IMI exemption requests and all the necessary registrations. It is hoped that this will reduce costs and simplify the bureaucracy.

The government has announced the lengthening of the periods of IMI (annual rates on a property) exemption and this will include 428 thousand residences acquired after 2004.

Properties, which are this year still within the 3 or 6 year exemption period, having been re-valued since January 2004 markedly lower than 236.000 Euros, will see their IMI exemption period automatically extended.

According to the paper approved by the government, properties with a valor patrimonial tributário of up to 157.500 Euros, which have been given a 6 year exemption, will see an automatic extension of 2 more years. Properties whose valor patrimonial tributário varies between 157.500 and 236.250 Euros will see the exemption extend by 3 to 4 years.

SOLVIT is an online network, which has been in operation since July of 2002, with centres in all the EU member states, as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. It looks for a resolution to problems presented by citizens and businesses, and gives a pragmatic response to difficulties resulting from an incorrect application of community legislation by public authorities.

Its aim is to solve problems in a short space of time i.e. ten weeks.

It is up to each member state to direct their centre and for its part the European Commission manages the database and whenever necessary lends assistance, in order to speed up a resolution to the problems presented. The European Commission also dispatches the complaint forms it receives to SOLVIT, if it feels that there is a good chance that the problems can be solved without resorting to legal action.

You can visit the SOLVIT website here:

http://ec.europa.eu/solvit/

On page 125 of the book in the chapter on “Renting” I make reference to a new and more stringent law that had been introduced with regard to the licensing of rental property. This turned out to be unworkable, and after many months of confusion and frustration on the part of those wanting to obtain a licence, in order to legally rent out their “holiday homes,” a by-law (Portaria Nº 517/2008) that regulates the law (Decreto-Lei Nº 39/2008) was finally published on June 25th. It came into immediate effect.

This new by-law defines three kinds of accommodation, which had already been defined under artigo (article) 3 of the previous law:

1. A villa (detached for habitation purpose)

2. An apartment (autonomous fraction in a building)

3. An accommodation establishment (composed of several rooms e.g. a guest house)

The following things are now required:

1. A valid licença de habitação (habitation licence) issued by the local câmara municipal (municipal council);

2. A written request to the câmara municipal’s president according to the format published in the by-law;

3. Proof of legal ownership of the property i.e. escritura/certidão de registo predial (deed/land registry certificate);

4. A declaration of responsibility from a technician in relation to the electricity and gas installations;

5. Plans of the property as filed at the câmara municipal ;

6. Cadernetas (property tax documents) issued from the serviço das finanças (tax office).

A stamped document showing that the relevant department in the câmara municipal has received the application will be sufficient to proceed with renting the property.

It will be up to the câmara municipal as to whether they actually physically verify the requirements above and they have 60 days after the application has been made within which to do it.

If the câmara municipal does decide to verify the requirements and finds anything amiss they will then inform the Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica (ASAE), who will investigate and initiate the process, if there has been a breach of the law and an offence committed.

The by-law also divides accommodation into two further categories according to their capacity:

1. Less than 50 people

2. 50 or more people

Under number 2 there is an obligation to have a security project against fire hazards.

The rental property may be identified outside by a sign with the letters “AL.” This sign will be supplied by the câmara municipal according to the provisions of the by-Law. A livro de reclamações (complaints book) will also be compulsory.