The current municipal executive of Lisbon has already commissioned 775 houses.

This Monday, the Lisbon Chamber handed over the keys to 25 municipal houses allocated to families, namely under the Affordable Income Program, announcing that 775 houses have been made available under the current mandate, which began on October 18, 2021.

At a meeting chaired by Councilor for Housing and Municipal Works Filipa Roseta (PSD) held at the City Hall, the Lisbon City Council (CML) celebrated another moment of handing over the keys to 25 houses and eight municipal non-residential premises. housing for associations.

“25 homes have been allocated,” CML said, noting that four homes were leased under the Affordable Income Program, including one through an extraordinary tender for individuals with higher incomes for the Supported Rent Program and lower incomes for the Affordable Income Program. .

In response to Lusa, the council also mentioned that eight houses were allocated under the Supported Rent Program, seven under resettlement, namely six under the Lisbon Master Drainage Plan (PGDL) and one in the process of resettlement. Bairro Red Cross and six as a result of the transfer, namely “one due to poor housing conditions, another due to violence, two due to overemployment and two more due to health conditions.”

According to the information of the municipality, 25 houses are located in the parishes of Marvila, Belen, Estrela, Olivais, Parque das Nasoins, Campo de Orique, Beato, Peña de France and Santa Clara.

With regard to municipal non-residential premises, councilor Filipa Roseta handed over eight keys to the associations: Rimas ao Minuto, Orient, O Ninho (two premises), Questão de Igualdade, Paz Amizade e Cores and Associação Generation, which “cover the parishes of Marvila, Beato, Areiro, Ajuda and Campo de Orike.

“During the period of the current mandate, 775 housing keys have been delivered,” said CML, referring to the intervention of the municipality since October 18, 2021, when the current executive director of the city council took office under the presidency of Carlos Moedas (PSD), who rules without absolute majority after defeating the socialist Fernando Medina, former mayor and current finance minister, in the last municipal elections.

Lusa asked CML for information on the transfer of keys to the previous manager and asked if the distribution of houses in accordance with the current mandate is the result of work begun in the past, but did not receive this information.

“The construction and renovation of housing is an ongoing process, but it is important to emphasize that one of the priorities of the current executive body of the city council is, as emphasized in the presentation of the Municipal Housing Charter of Lisbon, “to increase and improve the supply of housing”, he strengthened autarky.

In this context, CML highlighted the allocation of 42 million euros to Gebalis – Gestão do Arrendamento da Habitação Municipal de Lisboa as a contribution to the increase in supply, noting that these investments are intended to regenerate areas and municipal housing that they found vacant.

“With this cost, which represents the municipality’s largest investment in municipal areas, 427 houses have already been refurbished,” the municipality said.

As part of the presentation of the Lisbon Municipal Housing Charter on Thursday, the Mayor of Lisbon said that housing policy should be inclusive and open, without prohibition or imposition, advocating a diversified vision and pushing for the release of young people from IMT.

We are talking about exemption from the municipal tax on onerous transfer of real estate (IMT) for young people under 35 years old to purchase their own housing in a maximum amount of 250 thousand euros.

The proposal was rejected in the context of the vote on the municipal budget for 2023 on November 30, against which all members of the opposition council voted, namely PS, PCP, Cidadãos Por Lisboa, BE and Livre, but Carlos Moedas said that he would return to present it at one of the upcoming meetings of the city council.

At this meeting, the mayor introduced the work of the current housing executive, indicating that in 2022 it was possible to “help 1259 families, which was not the case since 2010”, which is the result of housing allocation and an affordable rent subsidy.

In a speech marked by indirect criticism of the government’s “More Housing” program, in which he argued that it was necessary to “move from the logic of centralization to the logic of participation”, Carlos Moedas suggested buying houses from private individuals so that the municipality could increase the supply of housing at affordable prices, acquiring which will be funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

On February 16, Prime Minister António Costa (PS) presented a package to respond to the housing crisis in Portugal under the Mais Habitação program with five axes: increase the supply of real estate used for housing purposes, optimize licensing processes, increase the number of houses on the rental market, fight with profiteering and protect families.