Petition for “use of vacant state property” with 5,400 signatures

A petition created to demand that the state “restore and use vacant property” that is state property has already garnered more than 5,400 signatures.

Speaking to Lusa, operations manager Maria João Viegas, the author of the petition, believes that the state should lead by example before making demands on the private sector.

Mandatory vacant rental, which consists of allowing the state in the public interest to rent out these dwellings by paying rent to the owners, is one of the measures of the More Housing program announced on February 16. and which will be approved by the Council of Ministers on Thursday (one part of the program) and on the 30th (the other part).

“If the owner does not wish to lease the property to the state, a formal term is given for the use of the property. Only after the expiration of this period, the state can lease the property on a mandatory basis, ”the program says, about one of the most important measures.

“This is an unfair law for both landlords and local owners,” says Maria Joao Viegas, owner of “one and a half houses”, in one of which she lives permanently, and in the other she is in condominium, where she only occasionally and occasionally professional reasons.

“The state says that everything that is closed and not occupied is empty,” he criticizes, demanding a proof of concept.

The government’s proposal exempts vacation homes from compulsory rent, homes that are empty because the owner is in a nursing home or provides full-time care as an informal caregiver, and homes for expats and people displaced for work, health or education.

“The state has sold all the property that could eventually be converted into housing, or at least sold most of it, or granted it in concession, and now there is a serious problem, and now it is urgent to put the houses on the market as soon as possible. faster that it will be built, even if it is rehabilitated, it will take time,” analyzes Maria Joao Viegas, accusing the government of choosing an “easier solution”.

The petition, which requires 7,500 signatures to be debated in the plenary of the Assembly of the Republic without passing a committee, is linked to the creation on Monday following the announcement of the More Housing program of a Facebook group called #devolutosdoestado (https://www.devolutosdoestado.pt /), which already has 12,400 subscribers.

“Joke,” the group noted with pictures of vacant properties they find across the country, which can be viewed on a map.

The updated list of unused public real estate, published by order dated March 17, 2022, which singled out 717 objects “inactive, empty or abandoned”, does not correspond “in any way” to reality, says the group I wanted to try to understand what “really” exists from a vacant heritage in the state.

“We didn’t even know what we were getting into,” comments Maria João Viegas, also a Facebook group administrator, noting that “many” of the buildings they found were “not on the list.”

With the exception of forest guard houses or magistrates, “everything that is mentioned in the group is off the list,” he adds.

“The state, first of all, must really know what it has, because between the Armed Forces and the chambers and public institutions of absolute certainty, this list is growing and much more,” he foresees.

Maria João Viegas is not opposed to involving “some unoccupied private property” in the exchange of public housing, but emphasizes that the state “also needs to speed up processes, for example, in relation to inheritance.

The petition is gathering signatures by the end of this week.