Portugal puts an end to “golden visas” to curb real estate speculation

Portugal will stop handing out golden visas to big foreign investors, Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced Thursday as he unveiled a series of measures to alleviate housing shortages and curb real estate speculation.

These controversial residence permits will only be extended if the investors who bought real estate reside in them permanently or if they rent them to residents, the head of the socialist government specified.

Portugal has been issuing these “residence permits for investment” since 2012 when it received financial aid from the European Union and sought foreign capital.

The system, which exists in other European countries, such as Spain, has been revised.

The last modification excluded investments in Lisbon and Porto, in the north, to reduce the pressure on real estate prices.

In the last decade, Portugal raised almost US$7.3 billion in exchange for some 11,600 residence permits granted to candidates willing to invest at least US$535,000 for a real estate acquisition, invest at least US$1.1 million or create 10 jobs.

To address the real estate crisis, the government on Thursday presented a series of measures to increase available accommodations.

“In these last 10 years, rents registered a rise much higher than inflation,” Costa said.

“The current prices are too high for the Portuguese market,” he added.

The program presented, which will be open for public consultation for a month before being adopted by the government on March 16, is worth US$963 million.

Among the measures in the package are more favorable taxation in the long-term rental market, simplification of building permits, and assistance to families in the face of rising rents or credit repayment.

With information from SWI