Portimão Council said today that a team of technicians soon will start to survey private property in its historic centre with the aim of identifying those buildings in need of upgrade and repair.
The council has asked for the cooperation of property owners during the survey period which runs until the end of July. The team will be working on the first stage of a revitalisation programme to halt the decline of important buildings owned privately and to encourage their repair to encourage new residents to move into the city centre.
The council team will be asking owners of property located in the centre to complete a form to describe their properties and list what needs to be done to bring such property up to saleable or habitable condition.
Owners who then want to renovate their properties will be offered tax incentives, exemptions and rates reductions as inducements.
This move follows Faro council which already has identified 280 such properties in its historic centre and is offering similar incentives to turn old and often difficult spaces into accommodation, primarily to house students from the nearby University which are seen as a key group to fill clubs and bars in Faro which suffers from a lack of local trade.
In October 2014, the president of the Portuguese Association of Municipalities with Historical Centres (APMCH) advocated the need to streamline the permit process for the rehabilitation of historical centres and to be able to fine investors who give up on projects.
The XV National Conference of Municipalities with Historic Centres was hosted in Lagos and included the heads of various municipalities in Portugal and looked at larger renovation projects in historic city centre. One example is the Mabor building (pictured) in Portimão which now is Dutch owned and, with a grant from the Jessica fund, is being turned into shops and accommodation in a multi-million euro project.
Mendes said that councils "have made a significant financial commitment" in reclassify the historical centres but most councils have no "financial wherewithal" to make a contribution in terms of tax benefits, in particular in waiving the collection of IMI.
This observation seems not to include Portimão council which, despite being in debt to the tune of around €160 million, is keen to offer IMI (rates) reductions to those private owners who want to upgrade and renovate, as is Faro council which sees the benefit of encouraging life in its city centre outside of shopping hours.
