Protection of rent payments for renters and landlords

Order 325/2021 of 29 December proceeds with the second amendment to Order 91/2020 of 14 April, amended by Order 26-A/2021 of 2 February.

Article 6-A of Order 91/2020 of 14 April is amended to read as follows: Borrowers are presumed to comply with the conditions inherent to the request for conversion of loans, in whole or in part, into non-repayable financial assistance under the terms of paragraphs 2, 3 and 5 of Article 5 of Law 4-C/2020 of 6 April, in its current wording, are assumed to be fulfilled if they say nothing to the contrary within 10 working days after the notification of the IHRU, I. P., made on the Housing Portal, in the specific area for loans, without prejudice to the delivery of the corresponding proofs being a condition of effectiveness for this purpose.

The provisions of Order 91/2020 of 14 April, as amended by this Order, are applicable to all loan applications submitted under Article 5 of Law 4-C/2020 of 6 April, in its current wording, regardless of the stage at which they are at.

Decree-Law 56-B/2021of 7 July makes the sixth amendment to Law 4 -C/2020 of 6 April, amended by Laws 17/2020 of 29 May and 45/2020 of 20 August, by Decree-Law 106-A/2020 of 30 December and by Laws 75-A/2020 of 30 December and 75-B/2020 of 31 December, which approves the exceptional situations of delay in the payment of the rent due under the terms of housing and non-housing urban lease, under the COVID-19 pandemic.

These measures were initially envisaged to be in force during the duration of the state of emergency and in the following month, supporting, in the case of housing leases, households with significant drops in income as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic context, or low-income landlords with significant drops in income caused by non-payment of rents under the provisions of the law.

Taking into consideration that the epidemiological situation has required continuous consideration and re-evaluation of the protection measures implemented, the evolution of the pandemic in Portugal has led to these having been successively extended and that, to date, the adoption and maintenance of exceptional economic and social measures remains relevant and necessary.

As a consequence and in relation to housing rental, there is a need to maintain a set of measures aimed, in the short term, at safeguarding the right to housing through the present extension of the loans already granted or under evaluation by the Instituto da Habitação e da Reabilitação Urbana, I. P. (IHRU, I. P.), up to three months after the termination of the exceptional regime in force.

Additionally, these changes aim to ensure that the beneficiaries of this support, between the time of submission of the application for support and the final decision by the IHRU, I. P., are not subject to the effects of delay or breach of contract, with the consequences that this may entail.

Order 26-A/2021, of 2 February, proceeds with the first amendment to Order 91/2020, of 14 April, due to the changes introduced in articles 3, 5 and 14 of Law 4-C/2020, of 6 April, by Law 75-A/2020, of 30 December, by article 168-B of Law 27-A/2020, of 24 July, and by Decree-Law 106-A/2020, of 30 December.

The aim of this Order is to certify the adequacy of the regulatory norms that ensure the execution of the exceptional regime for situations of delay in payment of housing rents, established by Law 4-C/2020, of 6 April, in conformity with the referred alterations.

It provides for an exceptional regime for situations of late payment of rents, given the epidemiological situation caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and COVID-19 disease, and the terms under which the demonstration of the drop in income is made for the purpose of applying that exceptional regime to situations of inability to pay housing rents due from 1 April 2020 until the month following the end of the State of Emergency.

Decree-Law 106-A / 2020 of 30 December amends exceptional and temporary measures relating to the COVID-19 disease pandemic. This Decree-Law proceeds to the fourth amendment to Law 4-C / 2020, of 6 April, amended by Laws 17/2020, of 29 May, 45/2020, of 20 August, and Law 75-A / 2020, of 30 December, which establishes an exceptional regime for situations of delay in the payment of rent due under the terms of urban housing and non-housing lease agreements, within the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the amendment of articles 3, 5 and 14 of Law 4-C / 2020, the support scheme for the payment of rent is extended until 1 July 2021 and changes to this exceptional and temporary regime are introduced in view of the effects of the COVID-19 disease pandemic. These changes are in line with the Economic and Social Stabilisation Programme, ensuring that loans granted to low-income borrowers, whose effort rate for the payment of rent exceeds 35%, are converted in an equitable and progressive way into non-refundable financial contributions. On the other hand, it is intended to ensure that beneficiaries can join the scheme through a faster model and under an honorable commitment to proof of the drop in income.