The historic Casa Pereira da Conceição, located on Rua Augusta, in Lisbon, could be evicted next summer after the Lisbon Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the landlord, allowing the monthly rent to be updated from 331 to 10 thousand euros, as part of the transition to the New Urban Lease Regime.
The case puts Europombalina – Sociedade Imobiliária, Lda., owner of the property, and the company Valor do Tempo, current owner of the store founded in 1933, face to face. At stake is the interpretation of the legal rules that regulate the transition from old contracts to the current regime, according to the ZAP news portal.
The now known decision revokes the first instance court’s ruling, which had protected the establishment from rent increases, invoking the special regime applicable to stores recognized as being of historical and cultural interest.
Transition to the NRAU was at the origin of the conflict
In July 2024, after a decade of freezing rent, the landlord announced his intention to transition the contract to the New Urban Lease Regime, proposing a monthly rent of 10 thousand euros and a new contract lasting five years, automatically renewable for periods of one year.
The tenants opposed the update, arguing that Law No. 42/2017, which establishes a protection regime for establishments classified as “Stores with History”, prevented changes in rent until December 31, 2027, as reported by the same source.
The court of first instance accepted this understanding, considering that the 10-year protection period should run from the entry into force of that diploma, in 2017, a decision that was reported by the Público newspaper.
Relationship understands that protection cannot be used twice
In the ruling dated January 27, the Lisbon Court of Appeal adopted a different position. The judges concluded that the tenant can only invoke one of the legal grounds provided for postponing the transition to the NRAU once.
According to the source cited above, in the process in question, the store had already benefited, in 2014, from an exceptional regime for being considered a “micro entity”, which allowed it to keep its income frozen for 10 years, between 2014 and 2024.
According to the court, the grounds of opposition provided for by law are alternative and produce “a unique and unrepeatable legal effect”. Therefore, it is not possible to accumulate successive deferral periods. After a period of 10 years after the first invocation, the exception regime is extinguished and the general rules of urban leasing apply.
Lack of counter-proposal was decisive
The decision also highlights that no counter-offer was presented to the value indicated by the lessor. According to , in these circumstances, the proposal presented by the owner prevails, since the proposed rent is not subject to a specific legal ceiling within the scope of this transition.
As a consequence, the eviction of the establishment was ordered, with effect from next summer, if there is no change in the procedural framework in the meantime.
The case reignites the debate around the protection of historic stores in Lisbon and the balance between the preservation of traditional commerce and contractual freedom in the urban rental market.
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