The Government in Portugal has decided to suspend lease agreement deadlines and renewal periods to protect tenants in what is an exceptional period of restrictions on the movement of people, given the coronavirus outbreak in Portugal. In general terms, this means that contracts for houses which are about to expire in the coming months will be extended.
Portugal's Prime Minister António Costa stated in a recent press conference on 20th March 2020, after a parliament meeting, that this "is not the time to add to the worry and anxiety we are all experiencing by having the additional anxiety of looking for a new home".
In the communiqué released by the Socialist Government it is stated that "exceptional and temporary measures have been approved for the terms of residential and non-residential leases, which defines that original rental contracts must be kept and that the original contracts may indeed object to the lease renewal".
The suspension of lease agreement deadlines and of renewals is initally to be effective during the periods of alert, state of emergency or other state of exception during the COVID-19 crisis in Portugal, which is declared in the legal and constitutional terms, "guaranteeing that lease agreements will remain valid, as well as protecting the rights and duties of both parties".
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