“What we are going to announce has two areas of action. On the one hand, strengthening the support we had already created, so being able to expand it and make it more effective for families, and on the other hand: an attempt to stabilize interest rates on home loan contracts” the government official said in statements to journalists.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister António Costa said the government was waiting for the European Central Bank’s (ECB) decision on interest rates before approving measures in the Council of Ministers next week to support families with housing credits.
Meanwhile, the ECB announced a further increase in the three main interest rates by 25 basis points. This was the tenth consecutive rate hike by the central bank, which has raised rates by 450 basis points since July last year, the fastest rising cycle in the eurozone’s history.
On the sidelines of the visit to a residential complex being built in Paredes, in the Porto district, to relocate about twenty families from a community living in tents, the Minister of Housing said that “these are the two points of interest” on which the De government is working on it.
“Next week, when the diplomas have been approved and the discussion has been held, we will be able to better present each measure in concrete terms,” he added.
However, when asked about possible braking measures that the government could take in 2024 to prevent the increase in rental prices, Marina Gonçalves indicated that different scenarios are being studied.
“What we want is to hear from the different parties involved,” he noted, noting that a series of meetings on the issue will take place next week.
“We call on the various entities in the sector to listen to concerns and understand possible solutions so that we can work on them together,” he noted.
The minister, on the other hand, recalled that other forms of support already exist to help families.
“Rental support was the most direct. We have a range of more direct tools to respond to families and rental support was the most direct way to respond to the current rental market.”
Referring to the fact that there are currently 185 thousand families in the country receiving income support, he noted that currently families with an effort rate of more than 100% are being recalculated.
“It is continuous work, we need to refine the law to be more effective in light of the existing problem,” he added.
Marina Gonçalves believes that there is no correlation between the sharp increase in rental prices observed in recent months and the More Housing program that the government plans to implement.
“The increase is something that is happening all over Europe. There is no direct correlation between Mais Habitação and the increase in rental prices. This price increase was already visible in January and February,” he noted.
The Minister considered the Mais Habitação measures “important”, which was vetoed by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and which the PS has already announced that it will confirm in the General Assembly of the Republic, because “ they can help stabilize rental prices. .
And he concluded: “The rental market has a series of rules that are applied. It works and we are building a set of tools to make it compatible with the population. Housing is just that. It’s an attempt to give confidence to the market while finding these answers for families who don’t have access to housing.”
Source: DN
