Rental License Portugal

Rental License for holiday villas and holiday apartments in the Algarve

The rental of private villas and apartments has long been a bone of contention for the Portuguese Government.

Due to the large amount of private holiday bookings by foreign holiday makers renting apartments and villas directly from their owners, the Portuguese tax authorities have lost millions of Euro in revenue every year

The private holiday rental market was never truly regulated, and it came as no surprise that in 2008 Decree Law nr.39/2008 of the 7th of March was introduced which now regulates the entire rental market of privately owned and operated holiday letting establishments, such as apartments and villas.

Possessing no Rental license is now a very expensive business. Fines can range from 5000 to 25000 Euro. Renting your villa or apartment in the Algarve without a Rental Licence is no longer an option anybody can afford to take.

Villas and Apartments which have a habitation licence and are used for temporary Lets and are not considered under the new law as tourism developments have now been classified as “LOCAL LODGING ESTABLISHMENTS”

Every single property which falls under the category “Local Lodging Establishment” must now have a “rental license” The rules and regulations are laid out in the Ministerial Decree 517/2008 of the 25th of June together with a list of minimum requirements for “Local Lodging Establishments”

If you have a villa or apartment which you rent out for short lets you must have a Rental Licence.