The parliament this Friday generally approved, with only a positive vote from the PS, the government’s proposal with the measures of the Meer Wonen program, failing the various projects submitted by the opposition.
Following the debate that preceded these votes, in which the opposition maintained its criticism of the government’s proposal with the measures of the Lake Housing Programme, this was made possible by the favorable votes of the PS bank, the abstention of PAN and Livre and the vote against of the other parties.
The 10 housing bills had all failed, as had the PSD resolution and consultation projects, despite the fact that during the debate, Housing Minister Marina Gonçalves expressed a willingness to “improve the government’s proposals” and said she was pleased that everyone was “very welcome” in solving the problem in the sector.
Of the series of initiatives being discussed and presented today by the opposition, only the draft resolution of the PCP, aimed at strengthening the resources of the Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU), was made viable, with votes for PS, PCP , BE, PAN and Livre and the abstention of the other parties.
Simplification of licensing approved in parliament
The government’s proposal to reform and simplify housing-related permits was widely approved in parliament today, with votes in favor of the PS, abstentions from PSD and IL and against the other parties.
Chega, BE, PCP, Livre and PAN voted against the proposal, which was debated today in the plenary session of the Assembly of the Republic in Lisbon.
In the debate on the two government bills to combat the housing crisis and the opposition’s 13 diplomas, the Secretary of State for Digitization and Administrative Modernization, Mário Campolargo, stressed that “responding to the challenges of housing” also includes this “Simplex measure”. which aims to simplify, standardize and reduce bureaucracy in licensing.
The government is proposing to abolish “replaceable or superfluous” permits, permits, laws and procedures in urban planning, land use planning and industry, leaving the door open for the future to take measures for the sectors as well agriculture and trade, services and tourism.
Under the measures provided for in the bill, architectural projects are now licensed only on the basis of the liability term of the designers.
In the debate, Deputy Jorge Paulo Oliveira (PSD) stressed that simplification has “limits” and requires “weighting” and “sounding entities”.
However, the government revoked the powers of local authorities and implemented “a simplification at any cost, which endangers the safety of people and property,” he stressed.
For BE, Mariana Mortágua recalled that “construction and permitting are at the heart of corruption in Portugal”, to which the Secretary of State replied that “the clarity of procedures prevents corruption”.
Deputy Paula Santos (PCP) spoke of a “blank letter to fuel trade and speculation” with housing, which “encourages and promotes speculation”.
Real estate developers “no longer have to abide by a set of rules,” he stressed, also finding that they will not be covered by liability for failure to meet deadlines.
Deputy André Ventura (Chega) dismissed municipalities’ responsibility for delays in granting permits and asked the government to take its “blame”.
Since the proposal for the simplification of the licensing laws did not provide for more supervision of corruption, the deputy also regretted that the government did not take the opportunity to change the legal regime for urbanization and construction, “with more than 2,000 legal diplomas scattered “. .
Source: DN
