PS Mayors in Lisbon criticize Carlos Moedas for supporting local housing

PS-elected 13 Lisbon parish councilors criticized Mayor Carlos Moedas (PSD)’s stance on the government’s “More Housing” program, deploring his decision to support only local housing.

“Faced with the opportunity to set the agenda and demand concrete solutions from the government for the municipality of Lisbon, Your Excellency has chosen only local accommodation, ignoring so many other projects, protests and struggles of the population of our parishes that we systematically carry out. and repeatedly present themselves without a decision,” reads an open letter from PS mayors addressed to Social Democrat Carlos Moedas.

It is about the Mayor of Lisbon’s support for local housing, publicly shown in the protest of businessmen and workers in the sector, which took place on Thursday, the day the government met in the Council of Ministers to approve the measures of the Mais Habitação program, which includes changes to the functioning of this economic activity. .

Along with the local housing sector, Carlos Moedas confirmed that the Lisbon City Council is working on a municipal regulation of this activity that will be “inclusive and realistic”, foreseeing that it will be discussed at a meeting of the city council’s executive soon.

“In a democracy, we cannot ban. The government’s proposal leads to layoffs and hurts families who are economically dependent on this sector,” the social democrat said in a post on the social network Twitter with photos of his presence at a demonstration of local housing in the Praça do Municipality of Lisbon.

Among the government’s measures on local accommodation are the suspension of new licenses for apartments and accommodation facilities integrated into a stand-alone part of the building, a review of existing licenses in 2030, with new ones valid for five years, the creation of an expiration date. a regime for invalid licenses and a new tax regime that provides for an extraordinary contribution of 20% or exemption from tax if the property is transferred to the rental market.

In an open letter, those elected by PS to chair 13 of the 24 parish councils of Lisbon, namely Ajuda, Alcantara, Beato, Benfica, Campo de Orique, Campolide, Marvila, Misericordia, Olivais, Peña de France, Santa Clara, Santa Maria Mayor and San Vicente accuse Social Democrat Carlos Moedas of “ignoring” all citizens who feel “strangled by exorbitant rents” and continue to be evicted “to have their homes then converted into local housing or hotels “. .

“We would like to see him and see him along with the thousands of people who have been expelled from the city and continue to be since the introduction of the NRAU. [Novo Regime do Arrendamento Urbano]cruel and inhuman law passed and approved by the government [PSD/CDS-PP] of which he was a part and which he praised so much, ”says the open letter of the socialists.

PS Mayors also believe that March 30, when the government approved the measures of the Mais Habitação program, “could be a great housing day, a day on the way to develop a common agenda, ambition and a cross-cutting demand on all parties for the benefit of the citizens of Lisbon” .

However, Carlos Moedas “unfortunately chose a solution of mild criticism and political gain,” they accuse, lamenting that the mayor “never met the presidents of the junta.”

In response to the Socialists, the Lisbon Council of the PSD assures that the statement that Carlos Moedas does not engage in dialogue with the councils is false, since “the truth is that dialogue with all parishes has been and will continue for the good that is common to the people of Lisbon.”

In a statement entitled “What if they were serious?”, the Social Democrats cite that the demonstration in which Carlos Moedas participated was organized by small local housing businesses where “no big real estate funds were present”, and argue that a protest “today would have made sense” because “PS realized the mistake and completely abandoned what it was preparing to do by destroying the sector.”

The PSD also emphasizes that Carlos Moedas is working to regulate local housing and to commit to public policy, rejecting the “freeze” of the problem and the city, as the previous head of the city council did, without protection at any time, exceeding the load on certain areas of the city, “and also the government’s proposal for a forced lease.

At the last open meeting of the Lisbon Chamber, which lasted until Thursday morning, the proposal of the Socialist Party to create a Mais Habitação municipal program in addition to the government program was discussed and voted, but most of the measures were rejected, including the resumption of the Renda Segura program, which demanded a complete tax exemption – IMI, IRS, IRC and IMT – for property provided to the municipality for rental housing.

The PSD/CDS-PP leadership, ruling without an absolute majority, voted against all the points of the PS proposal, managing to disapprove most of the measures supported by the PCP and BE, which voted against some and abstained from others. . . .

Of the four approved items, a total of 10, the focus should be on sending messages to all councilors to exercise legal pre-emption rights in the acquisition of real estate and the decision to “authorize the competent municipal authorities to act within 90 days of determining municipal or private land – in this case subject to acquisition – to launch modular construction and “micro-housing” pilot projects for displaced students and workers (university students, police, doctors, professors). etc.), as well as to strengthen emergency housing solutions.

In the same period, a proposal should be submitted “to grant owners of real estate located more than 150 kilometers from the municipality of Lisbon and residing here, the right to receive a municipal subsidy for affordable rent.”

Another of the measures approved is the establishment of branches of the Mais Habitação Lisboa scattered throughout the city, together with the parishes, to clarify and disseminate information based on greater proximity to the citizens.