Following the parliamentary discussion and vote, one of the criteria previously required for reclassification to urban land was reinstated, namely demonstration of the economic and financial viability of the proposal, including identification of the parties responsible for financing, demonstration of contracted sources of funding and public investment. It is also again required to demonstrate the impact of the proposed urban development on the existing infrastructure system and to forecast the costs required to reinforce it, build new infrastructure and maintain it.
However, these requirements do not apply in the case of reclassification as urban land for the installation of industrial, storage or logistics activities and their support services, or for dry ports, as well as housing for agricultural workers. And in these cases, the general criterion according to which reclassification to urban land must unequivocally contribute to the consolidation of urban areas and the sustainable development of the territory does not apply either, requiring the reclassification decision to set out the costs of urban planning operations, the respective implementation period and the conditions for redistributing benefits and costs, taking into account all the urban planning costs involved.
On the other hand, the deadline for carrying out urbanization works on reclassified land has been reduced from five to four years. This deadline can be extended once for a period of one year, for duly substantiated exceptional reasons, and provided that the urban planning operations have already begun.
As for the special reclassification regime for urban land with a housing purpose and complementary uses, the reference to the purpose “related to the housing purpose” is eliminated, the requirement of “contiguity with urban land” is restored, the criterion of 'moderate value' is replaced by affordable rent or Controlled Cost Housing, and it is no longer required that the necessary collective use equipment and adequate green spaces exist or are guaranteed to cover the needs arising from the new uses. In addition, 'complementary uses' are defined as “all functionalities in a relationship of dependence or complementarity with the purpose of housing, which cannot be in conflict with it”.
This special reclassification regime can no longer cover “strategic areas of infiltration and aquifer protection and recharge, areas at high risk of soil erosion and areas of slope instability”.
Reclassification as urban land for housing purposes where the property is not exclusively public is now subject to a non-binding opinion from the Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR). A procedural conference must be called prior to issuing the opinion, which must be issued within 20 days, failing which it will be tacitly granted. If the property is exclusively public, there is no need to demonstrate economic and financial viability or the impact of the proposed urban development on the existing infrastructure system.
As for the simplified regime for altering territorial plans, in addition to replacing the concept of 'moderate value housing' with affordable rent or Housing at Controlled Costs, it is now stipulated that, when they do not occur on exclusively publicly owned land, the alterations “depend on a non-binding opinion from the regional coordination and development commission, with regard to compliance with current legal and regulatory provisions and compatibility or compliance with effective territorial programs and plans, and must convene a procedural conference prior to issuing an opinion, which must be issued within 20 days from the date of submission of the proposal, under penalty of tacit approval”. This procedural conference is held with all the relevant bodies, services and public authorities, who express their position, which is recorded in the minutes.
With regard to the suspension of the rules on urbanizable areas or planned urbanization due to non-compliance with the obligation to include the land classification and qualification rules in the plans by 31 December 2024, in addition to the exceptions previously provided for, this suspension also no longer applies to urbanizable areas or planned urbanization whose urban planning parameters have already been defined by the competent municipal body through the approval of the Prior Information Request or architectural project.
On the other hand, the suspension of the rules does not prevent the carrying out of urban planning operations whose purpose falls not only, as hitherto, under the special reclassification regime for urban land with a housing purpose and complementary uses, but also under the simplified procedure for reclassifying rustic land to urban land with the category of economic activity space, i.e. when the land is intended for the installation of industrial, storage or logistics activities and support services, or dry ports, in which cases the land reclassification procedures for those purposes apply.
The suspension, which is no longer automatic, cannot be lifted if the municipality demonstrates, with good reason, that the process of revising the territorial plans is nearing completion, or the delay has occurred for reasons for which it is not responsible. In this case, the CCDR sets the duration for which the suspension will be lifted, taking into account the time expected to be needed to complete the process of revising the plans.
The law is retroactive to December 31, 2024 and is in force for four years. The extension of the regime is preceded by the presentation by the government, and discussion in Parliament, of an evaluation report on the application of the law, which provides the grounds for the decision.
The diploma is now awaiting promulgation by the President of the Republic and subsequent publication in the Diário da República.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
