Silves council has announced a raft of tax benefits for the owners of property in the city centre who are keen to renovate them.
The buildings must be within the Area of Urban Rehabilitation of Silves with those owners applying for aid, able to benefit from several tax exemptions, the main one being rates relief.
This measure to inspire people to renovate their historic properties and continue to tidy up the city, unanimously was approved at a meeting of the Municipal Executive held on November 6th.
Qualifying buildings will enable owners to apply for an exemption from paying rates for five years from the year the property is fixed up, and for an exemption from paying stamp duty on buying a property that has been fixed up under the scheme.
In order to benefit from these exemptions, owners need to jump through a few hoops but nothing too complex, requiring a pre-application survey and another one when the work is complete. Then, the applicant needs to get a certificate from the town hall which is taken over to Finanças which will make sure that these two taxes are not charged for the requisite period.
The special urban area has been defined and published in Diário da República in May, 2016, which also states that everything must be tied up before December 31, 2020.
The council says it wants to get more properties fixed up using private investment which will help boost the local economy.
