Fueled by frenzied foreign demand and an alluring residency-for-investment programme, the Portuguese property market has flourished in recent years. And with analysts predicting that housing prices in the country will continue to rise, many investors are scrambling for a cut of this burgeoning market.

The ski season is now upon us and many people will be jetting off to the Alps, Pyrenees, USA and Canada for some snow and après-ski.

If you are a keen skier and are thinking of buying a property in a ski resort, these are the main points you need to consider, according to overseas property and finance expert Simon Conn.

Exclusive Algarve Villas December News

The Espírito Santo family playground, the Comporta estate, has long been considered outside the normal property laws to which normal citizens must adhere to.

Espírito Santo clan members wanting to build or refurbish properties on this idyllic stretch of coast and farmland seem simply to have ‘made arrangements’ with the complicit local council and carried on regardless.

The Alojamento Local system is a failure by any measurement with only around 30% of property owners bothering to register on the scheme launched in 2008.

One reader challenged Dear Ed to come up with a ‘five minute solution,’ so here it is. These thoughts on the failed Alojamento Local system and how to fix it, in fact took 15 minutes to write down in draft form. Please add your constructive comments at the end in the Comments section.

Following on from the feature article on algarvedailynews.com: ‘Espírito Santo clan fights to keep control of Comporta Estate - whatever it takes,’ rumours now are rife in Lisbon that, as predicted, a bid has been entered for one of the companies that controls the Comporta estate – a bid that is deliberately low and one, that under the company articles, can be matched by the existing family shareholders to get the estate back under Espírito Santo family control at a rock bottom price.

Inexplicably, on September 16, 2016, the Luxembourg administrator announced Rioforte’s shareholding in the two Comporta estate companies had been released for sale.

The Comporta Estate, the former 'jewel in the crown' of the Grupo Espírito Santo empire, the summer playground of its family members with miles of pristine beaches and development land has become a battleground with 'the clan' using every trick in the book to regain control of the business.

The dream fell apart in July 2014 when Banco Espírito Santo, run by clan chief Ricardo Salgado, went bust after reporting a record net loss of €3.58 billion due to its exposure to a tightly controlled network of Grupo Espírito Santo companies.

While early November has seen sterling rally a little against the euro, the pound's value has been heading broadly downward ever since the 'leave' result of the UK's referendum to leave the EU. On 5 October the pound fell to a five-year low against the euro and on 17 October it hit a six-year low.

With Brexit negotiations and political upheaval set to continue for at least the next two or three years (if not longer), the impact on UK citizens is significant. This is particularly so for those who have previously purchased a timeshare property elsewhere in Europe. These families are now finding themselves faced with maintenance bills in euros that are substantially more expensive than they were this time last year, due to the fluctuations in the exchange rate.