Loulé council has leapt ahead of other of the region’s councils that have historic zones with an announcement in today’s Diario da República that protection and repair of of the city’s old centre is to be encouraged.
The new Urban Rehabilitation Area for the Historical Center of Loulé, and the old centre of Quarteira, are now subject to a range of incentives for poperty owners in the expectation that private money will be used to repair and refurbish old properties under the council's watchful eye.
This is good news for property owners in these areas as they now have incentives to carry out repairs with those undertaking work to refurbish their properties becoming exempt from municipal taxes related to such work, namely, the licensing fees payable, the fees for permits; the fees due for occupation of any public space during renovations and the fees for conducting surveys.
That’s not all: owners will be exempt from local rates (IMI) for four years and will pay only a proportion of the full rates bill in the four years following.
As for the purchase taxes, IMT, there will be exemptions when old buildings are bought to be refurbished is the property is to be lived in.
In addition to these tax deductions, there are advantages and further deductions that can be made when submitting annual income tax returns.
The recent collapse of an historic building in Olhão (pictured below) has served to highlight the action of owners who prefer to see their properties reach a state of collapse so they can demolish on 'public safety' grounds, thus freeing the site for redevelopment.
The Loulé-based owned of the Olhão building that collapsed into the street during last week’s heavy rains had failed to maintain the property in the hope that it would collapse.
Indeed, previous signs of cracking and debris falling into the road did not result in any repairs at all despite public safety concerns. The answer to this inaction lies in the eight storey apartment block to the rear of the property, a template for what this row of historic but empty buildings could be used for should they all somehow suffer terminal damage.
Loulé is ahead of the game and is taking its historic centre seriously in the knowledge that tourists like patrimony, not modern. Olhão council’s recent attempt to destroy an important historic centre building so as to build a new viewing tower led to a public outcry with and the council plans for the entire historic zone suffering heavy fire at an feisty public meeting.
The good sense displayed by Loulé council, resulting in the encouragement of private money to fix the city’s patrimony, could easily be copied by other councils, but they need the political desire to treat their cities seriously and not try to turn them into modern tourist resorts.
