Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa April 2014 | Page 64

PORTUGAL

BY JAMES BOWLING

Best place to invest
Ripe with opportunities

W

hile Portugal felt the effects of the Eurocrisis, it undertook to participate in
an Economic and Financial Support
Programme between 2011 and 2013 which included
an ambitious set of economic and f inancia l
adjustment measures designed to ensure balanced
and sustained economic growth and to promote
competitiveness and employment.
Portugal’s reasons for getting into difficulties during
the Euro-crisis are the same as other EU countries
that suffered greatly: they took advantage of the cheap
EU funding that become available through the union.
But that is where the similarities end. Unlike other
countries that ploughed the cheap funding into their
economies, Portugal ploughed their funding into
capital infrastructure.
It was in October 2012 that they put the Golden
Residence Permit or ARI legislation into play. The
programme allows for immediate Residence that
allows the investor to live and work in Portugal as well
as travel visa free to all the 26 Schengen countries of
Europe. In the sixth year the investor is entitled to
apply for citizenship providing they have sustained the
simple requirements of the ARI programme and then
they can ravel visa-free to over 165 countries globally
including the UK.
The Portugal Residence Programme is attractive for
investors who would like to enjoy the quality of life,
great weather and safety that Portugal has to offer
but also take advantage of being part of the European
Union without being obligated to reside in Portugal.

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April 2014 SA Real Estate Investor

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The Golden Residence Permit for Investment is
available to all foreign national investors who are not
citizens of the EU. This means that investors from all
corners of the globe - regardless of which country they
originate from - may qualify for this programme.
Potential real estate investors should work on having
around 8% of the cost of the property saved up for costs
such as notary fees, lawyer fees, stump duty, official
documents and energy certificates.
If an investor chooses to purchase a new property,
they will also need to pay a reservation fee of 6000
Euros. Real estate investors following Monarch&Co’s
guidance can expect a net rental yield of 4 to 5% and ±
5% capital growth per annum.
To qualify, the investor will need to make an
investment in Portugal through one of the
following qualifying options:
• Capital investment with a minimum value of 1 000 000
(one million Euros) in a Portuguese company.
• Establishing a Portuguese company that employs
more than 10 people.
• Acquisition of real estate with a minimum value of
500 000 (five hundred thousand Euros)
• Should an applicant wish to, they may continue
to live in South Africa on a permanent basis. Family
and dependants will also qualify for residence
and after the fifth year will be able to apply for
Permanent Residence, then Portuguese citizenship
and thereby an EU passport.

RESOURCES
Monarch & Co International
www.reimag.co.za