Competition for "Porto com Sentido" starts in July

The municipal program "Porto com Sentido" starts in July with a public tender that aims to select, 250 houses to be placed on the affordable rental market, hitherto used, mostly, for Local Accommodation (AL). The initiative aims to attract thousands of new residents to the city center, and for the owners, there are a number of advantages associated with joining this regime, including the possibility to advance payment of two years of rent – by Porto City Council. For the next three years, the municipal investment will be around 4 million euros.

The program, which will last until 2022, will amount to a global offer of 1,000 dwellings, with the selection of the first 250 dwellings starting in July.

Among the main advantages of "Porto com Sentido", for the owners of fractions that are currently not being placed on the market, is the possibility of the prepayment of two years of rent.

In addition to this measure, the provision of tax benefits under tax return, corporate tax, and Municipal Property Tax are foreseen. Landlords who join the program see their risk substantially reduced, since the Municipality of Porto will be the entity that assumes the timely payment of rents, the regular maintenance of properties, and also the timely delivery of fractions at the end of the contract and in the initial conditions.

On the side of the population, the advantages are unmistakable. In addition to the focus of "Porto com Sentido" inevitably being the center of the city, where there is a greater incidence of Local Accommodation, the rents to pay to the Porto City Council will be calculated according to the parameters of the accessible lease, that is, the base price of the rents will be set according to a "brake" price on their real market value. It will then be up to the entity to assume the role of the buffer, incorporating in the payable rent amount to the owners the remainder between the controlled price paid by the tenants and the market price corresponding to the rented fraction.

Prior to the signing of the lease, an inspection of the selected properties will be carried out, in order to ensure that they are in adequate conditions of safety, health, and comfort. The properties that are already furnished can see the rent increased by up to 10%.

The sublease of housing properties to families will be made by the Municipality of Porto upon prior registration and selection.

The operational management of "Porto com Sentido" is ensured through the municipal company Porto Vivo, SRU.