Simplex Speeds Up Housing Licences
In the first ten months of the year, from January to October, 28,004 homes were licensed in Portugal, 0.7% more than in the same period last year. This surge in new housing licences coincides with the implementation of the “Simplex” urban planning licensing reform—Decree-Law No. 10/2024—which was rolled out in two phases: some measures took effect in January, and others in March.
According to ECO, citing data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), it has been 16 years since a similar number of new homes were licensed in the first ten months of the year.
In the first quarter of the year, it is worth noting, there was a year-on-year decline of 17.6% in the number of licences issued—the sharpest quarterly contraction in over a decade. This makes the positive impact of the Simplex urban planning reform even more significant.
In October alone, the publication reports, 3,111 homes were licensed for new construction, an increase of 8.7% compared to the same month last year. Since March, new family housing licences have grown at an average year-on-year rate of 9.5% per month.
The measures included in the Simplex urban planning licensing reform aim to streamline processes, including eliminating the requirement for urban planning licences in certain cases, replacing them with prior notifications or exemptions from prior control. These measures are complemented by others such as:
- Implementation of a tacit approval system for construction licences, allowing projects to proceed automatically if authorities fail to respond within stipulated deadlines;
- Simplification of administrative procedures for obtaining urban planning licences, including reducing the required documentation and speeding up approval processes;
- Clarification of municipal powers in urban planning oversight, limiting their intervention to specific aspects and avoiding redundant analyses.
In a recent interview with idealista/news, following the Government’s announcement of further changes to the law, the President of the Architects’ Association (OA) described the forthcoming revision as “profound.” According to Avelino Oliveira, “there is only one solution: to amend and correct what is wrong.” He added, “Fortunately, the Government has acknowledged this, and we are working with the Ministry and the State Secretariat to improve the legislation and fix what can be fixed.”
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IN: idealista.pt
