“ANMP has always understood that it should be up to municipalities - who are best acquainted with the housing needs of their populations and the actual demands for tourist accommodation in their territory - to manage the local accommodation dossier”, states the ANMP's opinion on the decree-law that changes the legal framework for the operation of local accommodation establishments and that decentralises the powers to regulate the activity to municipalities, approved by the PSD Government on 22 August.

The ANMP stresses that this management must be properly coordinated with existing planning instruments and integrated with other aspects of public policy in addition to housing, namely urban planning and land use planning, tax policy and fees, and social support and economic development strategies defined by local authorities.

“Reinforcing the competencies of municipalities in this area therefore seems to us to be the most appropriate approach that can effectively contribute to the harmonious coexistence between local accommodation and housing”, it stresses.

However, the ANMP stresses that this decentralisation must be “as required by law”, accompanied by the appropriate economic and financial resources and the time needed to train services and draft/implement regulations.

Furthermore, the ANMP's opinion, which was favourable, highlights that the changes introduced regarding local accommodation in buildings subject to the horizontal property regime “would benefit from greater consideration and reflection, as the impacts of this coexistence can effectively increase conflicts between permanent residents and temporary guests, affecting the quality of life and tranquillity, as well as the normal functioning of these buildings, due to the increase in guest traffic and the overloading of the buildings' common infrastructures and services”.

The ANMP also considered it important to respond to the “lack of definition/doubts/non-operational nature of many Mais Habitação measures and the maintenance of changes made under them, greatly enhanced by the failure to update the Entrepreneur's Counter Platform, managed by the Agency for Administrative Modernisation”.

On 22 August, the Government approved the decree-law with the measures on local accommodation announced on 8 August which, among other things, once again refers to the municipal councils the decision to put an end to local accommodation in residential buildings.

At the same time, the councils may not order the immediate cancellation of the local accommodation registration and “invite the parties to reach an agreement”.

Condominiums may continue to oppose local accommodation, but they must base this opposition on “repeated and proven acts that disrupt the normal use of the building, as well as acts that cause inconvenience and affect the rest of the condominium owners”.

At the same time, the Government proposes the creation of a mediator for local accommodation.