Yesterday’s querulous debate in parliament saw prime minister Luís Montenegro announce that “price moderation” for buying or renting residential property in Portugal will be inevitable following the “risky measures” implemented by his government – albeit these “will not have immediate results”.
“I am willing to take risks, to weather the storm of the transition period and believe that this path will produce results, because once there is greater supply in the housing market, whether for rent or purchase, it seems to me that price moderation will be inevitable,” said the head of government.
Mr Montenegro was responding to Bloco de Esquerda’s Fabian Figueiredo, who denounced “the biggest housing crisis in the history” of the country after the PM’s opening speech that extolled on what he believes to be all the positives so far of his administration.
In a speech using the ‘Cristiano Ronaldo/ football allusions’ favoured by the prime minister for goading the country into success, Fabian Figueiredo dubbed the government’s latest programme for the housing sector “a resounding own goal”.
“The prime minister now wants to lower taxes on real estate funds and construction companies because he thinks that will miraculously solve the housing crisis. He has created a curious concept of moderate rent that can go up to €2,300 (…), which in the real lives of the Portuguese means eviction,” Figueiredo stressed.
Is the prime minister “finally willing to listen to the recommendations of the European Commission, which has already shown him the yellow card and is calling for regulation of excessive AL/ local accommodation tourism – and the OECD, which is asking him for taxation that will end the problem of empty houses, or will he continue with open-door policies for property speculation?” Figueiredo went on.
Montenegro stated that the government’s measures for the sector “are risky” and “involve a transition period, which does not imply immediate results”.
After the prime minister’s statement at Christmas, in which he asked the Portuguese people for “a Cristiano Ronaldo mentality”, Figueiredo suggested that what is needed is not “a mental coach in São Bento, but a government focused on solving health problems and ensuring that Portuguese residents can afford to pay for their homes”.
source: LUSA
