In written statements to Lusa, the Secretary of State for Housing says that what is foreseen in the proposed State Budget for 2025 (OE2025), delivered on Thursday to the Assembly of the Republic, “is to guarantee fair treatment for both tenants and for landlords.”

According to Patrícia Gonçalves Costa, this guarantee is made “by ensuring the effectiveness of the compensation mechanism for landlords”.

The Government also adds that it intends to “guarantee fair treatment for both parties – tenants and landlords –, creating conditions so that properties remain in good condition and provide a better quality of life for tenants”.

In the OE2025 report, the Government assumes the intention of making “adjustment” proposals to the legislation relating to leasing, namely to “correct the distortions created in recent years”.

Specifically, it commits to taking “the necessary measures to complete the transition processes of pre-1990 residential leases in order to restore justice.”

The lease contracts in question have been frozen for more than a decade, and the previous socialist government decided to suspend its transition to the New Urban Lease Regime (NRAU), the law that regulates the rental sector and which came into force in 2012.

Currently, this transition is suspended as long as tenants meet one of three requirements: being 65 years of age or older; have proven disability equal to or greater than 60%; or have an adjusted gross annual income of less than five times the national minimum wage (820 euros), which in 2024 corresponds to a total of 57,400 euros.

Several information bodies and homeowners associations read in the OE2025 proposal report the intention to unfreeze old rents, which forced the government to clarify that this will not happen.

The government delivered the State Budget proposal for 2025 to parliament on Thursday, which predicts that the economy will grow 1.8% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025 and a surplus of 0.4% of Domestic Product Gross (GDP) this year and 0.3% next year.

The feasibility in general, for which the vote will take place on the 31st, is not assured. If the proposal is made viable, with the abstention of the PS or, alternatively, the favorable votes of Chega, it will then be assessed in the specialty, between November 22nd and 29th, with the final global vote scheduled for November 29th.