Gold for the price of silver

The Bom Sucesso development on Portugal’s Silver Coast offers state-of-the-art “sustainable” architecture at an affordable price. Laura Henderson reports

These days, a villa in the southern triangle of the Algarve is a badge of affluence. Buy one and you can say goodbye to more than £2m. Famous footballers, media stars and wealthy businessmen, attracted by the climate as well as the tees and greens, have helped establish the region as a jet set home-from-home. But if you don’t like crowds and commercialism and you don’t have such vast sums to spend, Portugal also offers a low-key alternative.

Less than an hour’s drive north of the capital Lisbon, with easy access via the A8 toll motorway, is the Costa da Prata (Silver Coast)—a 200km stretch from Ericeira to Espinho that is flanked by some of the country’s richest fishing banks and incorporates a string of snug, sandy coves such as Sao Martinho do Porto and Paredes de Vitoria.
The property market here is delivering excellent capital appreciation, up by an average of 30 per cent in the past three years, in line with the greater Lisbon area.

“Extra tourist revenue from the million or more who visited Portugal for the Euro 2004 football tournament has had a positive impact on property values, with many fans returning as house hunters at a time when the country is emerging from an economic downturn,” says Caroline Reid, international director at estate agents Hamptons.
Michael Heln, sales executive at Real Estate and Capital Investment, agrees, adding: “New low-cost and charter flights into both Lisbon and Oporto are starting to bring inward investment to this quiet coastal stretch, with plans for a second international airport north of Lisbon at Ota, near Abrantes.”

One real estate project currently in the spotlight is Bom Sucesso, near the Silver Coast tourist capital of Obidos. Billed as “the largest permanent showcase of contemporary architecture” in Portugal, it features the work of 14 modernists, hand-picked by developers Acordo to design the resort’s “limited edition” collection of villas and townhouses. Among them is leading British architect David Chipperfield.

“When complete, Bom Sucesso will have 600 homes set in over 400 acres,” explains Goncalo Castelo Branco, executive director of the resort. “The properties will be set amid eucalyptus and fir trees overlooking Portugal’s largest natural lagoon and sited at different angles to give maximum privacy and choice of outlook. Ninety per cent will be single storey and most will have private pools.”

Design features include cantilevered walls, vast expanses of glass, open-sky inner courtyards and self-irrigating, jasmine-covered roofs. On-site facilities will include an 80-room boutique hotel and spa together with shops, a 24-hour concierge service, a tennis club and an 18-hole golf course by veteran UK course designer Donald Steel.
The resort has been compared with the Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart, made famous in the 1930s by Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. Branco finds the association “flattering”, but is even more proud of the resort’s eco credentials. “We’re concerned with environmental integration, blending landscape gradients and build features like flat roofs to conserve energy,” he says.

Paulo Graca Moura, Acordo’s chief executive, has worked with planners Wimberley Allison Tong and Goo to try to complement the resort’s natural surroundings, which include a 50-acre eco-reserve.
Phase one—including 350 off-plan homes—was launched last year. UK investors include architectural design student Jackie Stephens, who purchased a £900,000 Carrilho da Graca signature villa overlooking the golf course. “Top architect involvement is an obvious attraction,” she says, “but I also like the fact that locals are buying here. It will give it more of a community feel.”

The development is marketed in the UK by Hamptons International. A one-bedroom townhouse starts at £130,000, two-bedrooms at £185,000 and three-bedrooms at £215,000. Villas cost between £450,000 and £1.5m.

Buyers can opt for freehold purchase or for the vacation investment—10 weeks’ use a year and 42 weeks in a resort-managed rental pool. Some townhouses will be sold under a hotel-managed rental programme, which offers six weeks’ owner use (with the hotel letting the remaining 46 weeks) and guarantees five per cent return on investment for three years.

Buying in Portugal

Pros
• Post-recession, EU funding is in place to support housing regeneration in less discovered areas
• The cost of living is well below that of Spain
• The process of purchasing property is well regulated

and cons
• The buying process differs from many EU countries. Purchasers must get a tax card (NIF) and fiscal number and nominate a Portuguese postal address for documentation (a bank, lawyer or estate agent’s office will do)
• Rental income is subject to 25 per cent IRS (inland revenue) tax
• Mortgage debt and local taxes are property specific—you must ensure the previous owner has cleared them before you buy, or you inherit the debt.