With the aim of ensuring the right to private property, the Government has repealed Article 18-C of Decree-Law No. 555/99, dated December 16, which establishes the legal regime for urbanization and urban construction.
The article in question, which provided for the compulsory leasing of vacant housing, was added by Law No. 56/2023, dated October 6, following the More Housing Program of the previous Government. According to the regime created at the time, municipalities could proceed with the compulsory leasing of independent units and parts of urban buildings that could be used independently for residential purposes, legally classified as vacant for more than two years, provided they were located outside inland territories.
This situation, classified by law as exceptional and supplementary, could occur in cases where the property owner, notified by the competent municipality of the duty to use the independent unit to end its vacant status or to present a lease proposal, as provided for in Article 5 of Decree-Law No. 89/2021, dated November 3, did not respond within the following 90 days, leaving the property unoccupied, allowing the municipality to proceed with its compulsory leasing.
The repeal came into effect on July 3, 2024.
