The government is moving forward today with a package of measures to tackle the housing crisis, with a council of ministers dedicated solely to outlining measures for the sector. As a sign of the political importance he wants to attach to the issue, it will be the Prime Minister himself, António Costa, who will announce the executive’s plan.
In recent weeks, Costa has already unveiled some of the plan’s measures, including making more land available for housing, defining incentives for private construction and incentives for landlords to put their homes on the rental market, in an effort to source housing from local accommodation and put some of the 720,000 homes on the market left behind in the country.
One of the main focuses of the executive will be the definition of a support framework specifically aimed at young people, who are particularly affected by difficulties in buying or renting a house, especially in urban centres. Last Friday, the weekly magazine Expresso said the government will also create a new permanent income support mechanism for families facing a drop in income, whether due to unemployment, illness or divorce. This Thursday should also see the end of the golden visas already announced, a mechanism that has been identified as responsible for the rise in house prices in major urban centers, and in particular in Lisbon, the epicenter of the housing crisis.
ER waiting with measurements
Even the Socialist Party is eagerly awaiting the government’s housing package. And I’m afraid too: among socialists there are those who fear that the Executive will not go far enough in the measures to be taken for a sector that is seen in social terms as a “powder keg”. “We no longer go there with palliative measures, we have to take serious measures,” says a socialist to DN who closely follows this area and for whom the government takes the time to provide an effective response to this problem.
The perspective does not stand alone. In recent months, several PS Lisboa figures have warned of the need to act quickly and effectively to stop the housing crisis, at a time when house prices and rents have reached unbearable levels, even for the middle class. A scenario to which was added the galloping rise in Euribor rates throughout 2022 (and which will continue), which has led to increases of the order of hundreds of euros in home loan installments – and that’s 1.4 million in Portugal. A perfect storm that worries socialists.
The difficulty of finding housing at affordable prices is additional one of the mottos that led to the creation of the Vida Justa Manifesto, which already called for a demonstration before February 25, in Lisbon, calling for the participation of “local residents, people from social movements and other citizens”. And that marks, already today, presence for the Council of Ministers.
However, this Thursday’s government meeting should not exhaust the measures for this area. In January, the executive branch requested two studies from PlanAPP – Competence Center for Planning, Policy and Future Public Administration, one to conduct the “Identification and Comparative Analysis of International Practices in Housing Market Regulation”, and a second ( provided for in the state budget) that aims to make a portrait of the universe of antique lace. Based on this analysis, which should be completed by May, the government will decide on the next step, which is whether or not to continue updating contracts before 1990. “to propose the necessary measures to regulate the functioning of the urban rental market, as well as the rent subsidy” already provided for in a 2015 decree.
PCP asks the PS for “anything from the left”
Housing was discussed yesterday in the Assembly of the Republic, in a parliamentary debate scheduled by the PCP and marked by the exchange of accusations about political responsibilities in the housing crisis. On the left, PCP and BE pointed the finger directly at PS. “What are you waiting for to do something on the left?asked the Communist deputy Duarte Alves, urging the Socialists to face the interests of the bank.
The PS, on the other hand, called on the government of Pedro Passos Coelho and the so-called “Cristas law”, took aim at the measures proposed by the PSD for the housing sector last Tuesday and criticized the “defeated, simultaneously adopted and passist” opinion of the Social Democrats . The answer to the words of the socialist Maria Begonha was not long in coming, through the voice of the leader of the JSD, Alexandre Poço: “Since you are so concerned about Pedro Passos Coelho and the PSD, do you know at what age young people left home in 2015? 29 years old. Do you know how old they are now? 34”.
Last Tuesday, the PSD presented a package of measures called “A new way to housing”, including the simplification of building and renovation permits, the reduction or even abolition of taxes on the purchase of permanent housing and the reformulation of rent subsidies. The PSD also admits that an “extraordinary IRS collection deduction” has been introduced for the years 2023 and 2024, focusing on the amounts of interest paid on permanent housing — a measure that was in effect until 2011. Yesterday, the PS challenged the social democrats to quantify the cost of this package of measures, which the PSD promised “soon” – “Much sooner than the PS takes to correct measures it never delivers”.
If Chega accused the PS of not doing anything in this area, the Liberal Initiative accused the socialists of intervening too much”: “It was you who destroyed the rental market, it is because of you that many people have to resort to credit because they have no other option”. Ultimately, PS and IL rejected the PCP proposal who argued, among other things, that the rise in interest rates should be reflected in banks’ profit margins. PSD and Chega abstained, Bloco de Esquerda, PAN and Livre voted in favour, alongside the PCP.
Source: DN
