On Tuesday, the Lisbon City Council overwhelmingly approved the PS proposal, which stipulates that the municipality can take over the contract with tenants over 65 years of age, regardless of the income received or the desire of the landlords.
The proposal, signed by three Socialist councilors in the Lisbon Chamber, was approved by a vote for the PS, Bloc de Esquerda, Cidadan for Lisbon and Livre, an abstention of the Communist Party and a vote against the Novos Tempos coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança).
The main aim of the proposal is that tenants over 65 years of age will be better protected from possible eviction situations, provided they can benefit from “legal support in matters related to housing.”
The proposal also stipulates that the municipality can accept “through a preliminary service analysis the contractual position of the tenant and that the Chamber will consult with the market within the framework of the Renda Segura program for the provision of housing to persons over 65 years of age.” years whose income is within the limits determined for the Affordable Income Program.”
“In these cases, the amount charged by the municipality for subletting cannot exceed the 25% effort rate,” they state.
Housing council member Filipa Roseta, contacted by Lusa, criticized the proposal as “unfair, illegal and ineffective”.
“It’s unfair because he has no income limit. The income limit is very high. It can reach up to 50 thousand euros per year. It is illegal because it is not possible by law that the council can replace a tenant without the landlord’s approval. It’s ineffective because they continue to enforce these forced rental laws. They want to undermine confidence in the rental market,” he emphasized.
As an alternative, the Novos Tempos coalition has submitted a proposal that will be considered at the next meeting of the Chamber and seeks to approve an emergency affordable income competition aimed at low-income seniors.
“On the initiative of the Housing Department, at a meeting of the Chamber, two extraordinary competitions were approved, specifically dedicated to people with low incomes, mobilizing for this purpose a total of 90 municipal houses,” can be read in the proposal to which the Lusa agency had access.
The Lisbon Chamber’s 17-member executive body includes seven elected representatives from the Novos Tempos coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Alliance), the only ones with responsibilities and who govern without an absolute majority. — three from PS, two from PCP, three from Cidadaãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), one from Livre and one from Bloc de Esquerda.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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