“Absolutely nothing is changing in housing with the government announcements. But it is changing in the country every day that people cannot have a house to live in and that is why, in my belief, what has been the call to the movement of protest that takes to the streets will not stop because people can’t wait for something to start to change, maybe in seven years, because people now need a house that they can afford,” he said.
Catarina Martins spoke in Fundão, in the district of Castelo Branco, during the closing of the initiative “Semear Coesão — the 2023 Interior do Avesso Meeting”, which took place throughout the day, with the aim of promoting discussion of the issues and challenges facing those who live, work, study or are activists in rural areas.
At the end of the session, the block leader emphasized that the housing problem is not only a problem in the centers of Lisbon and Porto and defended that it also affects municipalities in the interior, emphasizing that there is also a deterioration in rents Prices.
Given that “real estate speculation” is fueling the problem across the country, Catarina Martins classified it as a “drama” for people who must choose between a house with no conditions or one they can’t afford.
The BE coordinator, who announced this week that she would not run again, also said that there is no reason for criticism from right-wing parties and landowners of the program announced by the government, as she believes it is changing. zero”.
“I know that with the government’s announcements the right wing soon came and the big landowners said ‘what a horror, the end of the world is coming’. I have good news for these gentlemen and very bad news for the country. nothing changes at all, zero,” he repeated.
According to him, neither mandatory works nor rental guarantees will change the problem and the indicated measures will also have no effect in local housing when people need them, so now.
As for payment support, he stressed that these are in fact promises for banks and landlords and accused the government of doing nothing to reduce rents or house purchases.
“What they make sure is that they fund real estate speculation to keep the exact same prices they had,” he said, emphasizing that real estate speculation is one of “the biggest businesses” in the country.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister presented a package of measures, estimated at 900 million euros, to respond to the housing crisis in Portugal with five axes: increasing the supply of housing used for housing, simplifying permitting procedures, increasing the number of houses in the rental market, fights speculation and protects families.
Measures aimed at stimulating the rental market, streamlining and stimulating construction include the end of the ‘golden’ visa, the state replacing the tenant and paying rent with three months’ default, the obligation to flat rate offered by banks on home loans or families selling homes to pay off their home loan are exempt from capital gains.
The Mais Habitação program has been approved by the Council of Ministers and will be publicly discussed for a month. The proposals will go back to the Council of Ministers for final approval on March 16, after which some measures will still have to pass through the Assembly of the Republic.
Source: DN
