Parliament today discusses housing at the request of the PSD with 13 diplomas from different parties

PSD is adopting five housing diplomas for a vote in Parliament this Wednesday, which include a broad subsidy to support rent, government guarantees to help young people buy, and general tax breaks in the sector.

The debate, in which Housing Minister Marina Gonçalves will take part, will serve to discuss the package presented by the Social Democrats last week, with the initiatives of Chega, IL, BE, PCP and Livre, with a vote of one total of 13 diplomas at the end of the discussion.

In response to Lusa’s question, the PS parliamentary leader expressed his willingness to “continue discussion” on the topic, without specifying what proposals could be made viable for specialty discussion.

“We are open to consideration of various proposals, we have not closed this process, which was initiated by the government. The PSD-marked debate is another step,” said Eurico Brillante Diaz.

On February 16, the government presented a “More Housing” package in a process that will only be completed in the Council of Ministers at the end of March, with some proposals still to pass through Parliament.

Last week, the SDP presented a set of ten diplomas (now condensed to five due to regimental overlays), which it says cannot be quantified without data that only the government has, but which it believes are “foreseen in state budget”. for 2024″.

On this occasion, SDP Vice President António Leitao Amaro believed that “the socialist prescription is fundamentally the wrong decision, because it relies on ideologically intrusive solutions that exacerbate the problem, attack private property and force the state to do what it should not do.” . knows,” criticizing measures such as forced tenancy, rent caps, bans on new residency licenses, or golden visas, among others.

With regard to vacant real estate, the OSChS proposes a program of cooperation between the state and local authorities: contrary to the proposal of the government (which provides for the leasing of free private houses by the state), municipalities will identify unused public buildings. and propose (on their own or together with private ones) projects for their use, assuming administrative responsibility for them if the state does not respond within a short period of time.

In the fiscal area, PSD wants to reduce the withholding tax on property income on rental housing (from 28 to 23%, with a larger reduction for longer contracts), exemption from IMT (municipal tax on onerous real estate transfer) of real estate sales to 168 thousand euros, increase IRS deductions for rent and interest on mortgages, and apply a minimum VAT rate of 6% between 2024 and 2030 for construction work and residential renovations.

In another diploma, the SDP proposes to mitigate the impact of an increase in interest on a home loan by restructuring debts to banks (reducing the monthly payment), discarding a part at the end of the contract, with the state providing a public guarantee for the revised amount.

In the same bill, the Social Democrats propose the creation of a rental subsidy that households with income up to the sixth IRS scale (about 38 thousand euros) and with an effort score equal to or greater than 33% can apply for. The subsidy will correspond to a quarter of the cost of the rent, which will increase to a third if the tenant is under 35 years old.

Another landmark proposal of the “orange” package of social democratic youth is to replace the “down payment” when buying a home with a state guarantee for young people under 35 years old, an instrument that can cover up to 10% of the property and only for houses with a maximum value of 250 thousand euros.

Among other parties, Chega is putting forward two bills for discussion and vote: one proposes an exemption from stamp duty on property purchases up to 250,000 euros, and the other a reduction of up to 6% VAT on real estate restoration work intended for Corpus.

IL, on the other hand, wants to promote the possibility for civil society (private or public initiative) to rehabilitate vacant state property, if the latter does not agree to sell it, for an affordable five-year lease (after which it can use it as it sees fit).

Livre is only offering an IRC exemption to investment funds and real estate companies that lend 30% of their property through the Rental Assistance Program.

Among the resolutions (without the force of law), BE recommends to the government that public land “not be sold or transferred to real estate speculation processes”, IL that a Digital City Licensing Portal be created, Livre asks that they be contracted “human resources required to implement public housing policy,” and the PCP is resuming proposals from parties that have previously “failed,” such as introducing home loan renegotiations or limiting the value of new leases.