Carla Parreira Leandro analyzes the new regime: Renting homes to tourists outside the Local Accommodation framework

Carla Parreira Leandro, Consultant in SÉRVULO’s Real Estate, Tourism, and Urban Planning department, explains the new law allowing properties to be rented for tourism purposes for less than one year outside the Local Accommodation (LA) framework. Property owners who wish to rent out their homes can do so for different periods, with a minimum term of one year. However, there is a special regime that permits renting properties for less than 12 months, particularly for tourism purposes. This provides landlords with a way to lease properties to tourists outside the legal Local Accommodation framework. Nonetheless, there are rules, and everything must be clearly outlined in the rental agreement.

 

To understand how this works, one must refer to Article 1095 of the Civil Code. It stipulates that the rental term must be explicitly specified in a dedicated clause within the contract, with a minimum duration of one year and a maximum of 30 years. This applies to leases for primary and permanent housing, for example.

 

• However, there are exceptions. "The law allows, in special cases, namely for non-permanent housing or specific transitional purposes, the parties to agree on leases with terms shorter than the legally required minimum, that is, less than one year," explains Carla Parreira Leandro.
• The consultant further outlines the transitional purposes for residential leases provided by the law:

 

Specific professional projects of the tenant, as well as educational and training purposes (such as leases for students, typically tied to the duration of academic years);

Tourism leases, which may have shorter durations freely agreed upon by the parties.

Article 1095 also states that this specific transitional purpose must be "explicitly indicated in the contractual clause determining the term of the lease. Otherwise, the lease will automatically extend to one year." Furthermore, the special purpose must not undermine the intended use of the property; for instance, a warehouse cannot be used for tourism purposes, as Carla Parreira Leandro clarifies.

 

Read the full article here. (avalable only in Portuguese)