Revisions designed to increase land available for affordable housing
Part of the AD government’s brave new plans for “speeding up responses that would allow more affordable housing to be created” in this country has faltered at the first fence.
On June 12, Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Miguel Pinto Luz said the first version of the revised law would be ready for presentation within 30 days.
Thirty days on, and the result is that “the government is still working” on it, after listening to “multiple agents and entities related to the matter”.
Asked by Lusa about the failure to meet its own deadline, the office of the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing essentially ‘waffled’ (“The government is working on the measure, in conjunction with other measures presented”). The office would not commit to a moment when the revised law will be ready for its first, or indeed, any kind of presentation.
On June 26, at a hearing in parliament, Deputy Minister for Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida indicated that the change to the land law would “increase the number of plots available for housing construction”, recalls Lusa.
In a response to Lusa, sent today, the government assures that it is complying with “the commitment made and always considering dialogue with those involved in the matter and in practice”, having listened to “multiple agents and entities” in order to “design a collective solution”, says the State news agency, adding “the measure will follow the normal legislative procedure”.
Meanwhile, Lisbon City Council has urged the government “not to make the land law more flexible”, as it considers that any measures of this kind will contribute to property speculation and increases the risk of corruption.
The motion, approved by the entire opposition in the municipality versus the centre.right minority ‘in power’ , came about after the Minister for Territorial Cohesion said in an interview with the newspaper Expresso on July 5 that the government was “studying a legislative change that would make it possible to increase the amount of land that is suitable for building” and that it would “legislate to allow municipalities, if they wish, in the places they wish, by resolution of the town council and the municipal assembly, to extend urban areas where it is currently not possible to build”.
In the BE motion, left wingers pointed out that the amendment suggested by Manuel Castro Almeida would effectively render Municipal Master Plans “useless, allow unjustified capital gains and greatly increase the risk of corruption”, as well as being “against all good international practice”.
Source material: LUSA
