The Prime Minister defended this Friday that the parliamentary debate on the series of tax incentives for private landlords under the More Housing programme, scheduled for next week, will “enrich” the government’s legislative initiative.
“I am sure that the parliamentary debate will enrich the government’s legislative initiative. We already have legislative initiatives from others, from opposition parties, which will certainly enrich the legislative body that will approve the Assembly of the Republic”explained Antonio Costa.
The CEO spoke at the presentation of the winning project for the construction of 266 social housing units in Quinta da Baldaya, in the parish of Benfica in Lisbon, which will be allocated at affordable rents.
About the program Mais Habitação, presented in February, “There is one of the decree laws that is already in force, another decree law is about to be promulgated by the President of the Republic and finally there is an essential part, which is the part with a series of stronger incentives for landowners from the private sector to make available and market their housing, which will be discussed next week in the Assembly of the Republic”.
The measures that will be discussed in parliament concern changes of a fiscal nature and the powers of local authorities, in which the government can only make proposals, as it is a matter that can only be decided by the Assembly of the Republic.
António Costa said the government’s proposal aims to “provide the state, or the municipalities, or the parishes, with better tools”, as well as provide “greater incentives” so that private owners feel more secure in placing their homes on the rental market.
Regarding the incentives for individuals, the official highlighted the guarantee of rent payment by the state, the strengthening of the effective eviction action in case of unjustified non-compliance with the rent payment and the tax incentive, in which “taxation based on affordable leasing will be be frankly beneficial to those who invest” in placing homes on the rental market.
“The debate is not just about laws. Laws are tools, like other tools, that we can use to achieve a very clear goal, and the goal is to have a new generation of housing policies that respond to two needs , namely, on the one hand, to ensure the right to housing for all those needy families who cannot afford housing and, secondly, to meet the needs of the middle class and in particular of the new generations for affordable housing compatible with their income”he claimed.
The package of measures proposed by the government to deal with the housing crisis involves the municipalities, has an estimated cost of 900 million euros and aims to respond to the housing crisis through five axes: increasing the supply of housing used for housing, simplify permitting processes, increase the number of homes on the rental market, fight speculation and protect families.
Present at the presentation of the project to build 266 social housing units in Quinta da Baldaya, the Minister of Housing, Marina Gonçalves, said that this is “another step” in realizing the right to housing, which requires “collective work” is required.
“Ensuring that housing is today at the forefront of political priorities, in our collective life, in our territory, is essentially fundamental, because it is a need of the population. Aligning housing with health, at one line with education, in this perspective that everyone has the right to access decent housing”he stressed.
Marina Gonçalves assumed that strengthening the public housing stock is a political priority and stressed the possibility of the Housing Finance Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) to be implemented by 2026, which is “a very ambitious goal” represents.
Within the scope of the PRR, the government has “two main goals”, namely to respond to the 26,000 families facing housing shortages, through the 1st Law programme, and to help 6,800 families access affordable rent, the minister said.
The minister also said she intended to “bring housing to the level it should be from the very beginning, as a pillar of the welfare state, with a structural policy to stay out of the PRR”.
The presentation was also attended by the President of the IHRU, Isabel Dias, the President of the Parish Council of Benfica, Ricardo Marques (PS), and the housing councilor of the Lisbon City Council, Filipa Roseta (PSD).
Source: DN
