In response to increased interest from UK property buyers in advance of the Brexit deadline of December 31, 2020, the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the UK (PCC) presents the Moving to Portugal Show and Seminars on Tuesday, March 17 at the Pestana Chelsea Bridge Hotel, London SW11 8AE, from 11am to 9pm.
The show will feature seminars throughout the day on all aspects of moving your home or business to Portugal, explaining to visitors how to maximise the financial and lifestyle benefits of such a move.
Seminar topics will include recent changes to Portugal’s Non-Habitual Tax Regime (NHR), which offers very favourable tax benefits to those moving to Portugal to live and work, plus lots of detail about healthcare, mortgages, tax and wealth planning.
Seminars will also cover where and how to buy the ideal property, across all regions of Portugal.
About the demand
As Brexit progresses, those keen to move to Portugal are getting ahead of the December 2020 deadline and planning their move this year.
Christina Hippisley, General Manager of the PCC in the UK, says: “Since early January, we have received dozens of calls seeking information about property buying in Portugal and how things will resolve as Brexit continues. We expect a large turnout at the show and our seminars will give as much up to date information as possible.”
About the property market
Official data collected by the Office of Studies of the Association of Portuguese Real Estate Professionals and Agencies (APEMIP) shows that 242,091 properties were sold through Portuguese property agents in 2018 (these figures cover only homes sold through property agents, and exclude homes bought direct from property developers or privately).
Of these, 19,912 homes were sold to non-residents, up 14.5% on 2017.
Approximately 3,000 of these homes were bought by British buyers (14.9% of the total).
APEMIP boss Luís Lima says he does not believe the effects of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union will be felt in the property sector.
“So far, we felt a small decrease in terms of investment during and after the 2016 referendum as people were afraid of what the future would hold. However, this is no longer the case as British investment has been growing.”
The demand from UK buyers
The pipeline of British buyers looking to buy property in Portugal is fuelled by the fact that the UK continues to be Portugal’s most important source of incoming tourists, sending over two million visitors in 2019, or 19.2% of overnight stays in Portugal, up 5.9% on 2018 (source www.ine.pt December 2019).
Thus, the Portuguese government is looking to introduce several new measures from January 2021 in order to minimise any disruption for Portugal’s British visitors.
Measures under consideration include dedicated passport lanes for British visitors, and special arrangements for British driving licences and entry for British pets.
These huge numbers of annual British visitors to Portugal mean that there are now dozens of direct flights (from TAP, Jet2, British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair among others) operating between British airports and Portugal.
At the same time, Portugal has launched the very beneficial NHR tax regime for new foreign residents, which appeals to those wishing to retire to Portugal or to move there for business reasons.
About the show
With the support of their institutional partners Visit Portugal, the Chamber launched the Moving to Portugal Shows and Seminars in late 2017 in the UK to publicise Portugal’s very tax-efficient Non-Habitual Tax Regime (NHR).
Since then, over 3,900 visitors have come along to hear the seminars on the tax, legal and wealth implications of moving to Portugal, which have been held in London and around the country.
Alongside the seminars, which run throughout the day, visitors can meet seminar speakers on their stands, and also talk to a wide range of lifestyle and property exhibitors from all over Portugal.
• The event is supported by event partners Visit Portugal.
• The doors open at 11am and close at 9pm.
• The first seminar starts at 11.30am and will be repeated again at 3pm and 6.30pm to allow visitors to come during the day and after work.
• Tea and coffee will be served all day, and Portuguese wine from 5pm.
• There is a limited number of 180 seats per seminar so please book your seminar place online at www.movingtoportugal.org.uk
Each seminar lasts two hours, with a coffee break in the middle, and will feature six short presentations from specialists on different aspects of buying a home and moving to Portugal, whether you plan to retire there, invest there or move there for tax reasons.
Other topics covered include living costs, mortgage costs, health and insurance issues, and the prices and types of properties you can buy in the Algarve, Lisbon and the rest of Portugal.
Exhibitors at the show
Visitors can also meet the exhibitors, all of whom are Chamber members, which include the leading Portuguese Algarve resorts of Vilamoura World, Martinhal Family Resorts and Hotels, Ombria Resort, Troia Sonae, Kronos Homes, Quinta do Lago, Pine Cliffs, and Algarve resales agents Fine and Country Algarve and Cerro Novo Algarve.
From the Porto, Lisbon and Silver Coast areas, visitors can meet leading developers Prata Riverside and West Cliffs, Nomad Capital, Portugal Sothebys Realty, and JLL Lisbon and Porto.
For practical questions, the Association of Foreign Property Owners and Medal Insurance will be on hand.
Legal and lifestyle issues will be covered by Kleya and Caiado Guerreiro, and your mortgage, currency, tax and wealth management questions will be answered by UCI Bank, Currencies for You, and leading financial advisors Blevins Franks, Blacktower Financial Management and Abacus Financial Services.
Visitors can see more information and register to attend at www.movingtoportugal.org.uk
