Portuguese Government guarantees support for real estate

"The country´s housing surplus is below the European average, but we are in a very difficult situation at the level of the lease. [...] At the level of indicators, we have the housing surplus leaping out in recent years and European average to 35%, with the European average being 27%, "said Ana Pinho, indicating that the Government´s objective is to converge the effort rate of households with housing costs to the European average.

 

In a parliamentary hearing on the new generation of housing policies in the Committee on Environment, Spatial Planning, Decentralization, Local Power and Housing, the head of Housing said that "it is the youngest population that suffers the most" with overhead with housing expenses, as well as single-parent families.

 

"The accessibility to housing for us is to ensure that a family does not pay more than 30 to 35% of their income from housing," said the minister, stressing that the concept of affordable housing "is never a single value" because it depends on the household income.

 

In this sense, the current executive has "a cumulative number of measures for a progressive descent of incomes", in which the exemption of the taxation of the income and benefits in the Municipal Tax on Real Estate (IMI) and in the Municipal Tax on the Onerous Transmission of Real Estate (IMT), recalled Ana Pinho.

 

"In addition to this measure, we have additional measures to support investment for affordable rental rehabilitation," said the Secretary of State for Housing, adding that the goal is to reduce incomes by 20%.

 

For the minister, these measures will allow "a broad group of families to have access to housing."

 

"Those who descend 30% below market income, have additional support" from the state, revealed the tutelary of Housing folder, without giving advance of what support it is.

 

Ana Pinho also recalled the National Fund for Building Rehabilitation and the leasing program for young people Porta 65, as they are instruments that could "lower the value of rents."

 

"Our goal is to promote access to housing for all, by allocating State support in proportion to the social function of real estate .... The more the income goes down, the more support the state gives," said the Secretary of State , defending that "only with the public promotion would never have a sufficient number of fires to answer everything".

Source: Dário de Notícias