I start this text with a biblical reference that evokes the state of suffering and extreme despair. In the case of the sacred book, San Luca and San Matteo refer to the punishment of the wicked (those who were not pure or believers) or the pain of those who were excluded from the kingdom of God.
By Francisco Mota Ferreira *
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The image is deliberately strong because, as regards the accommodation, many families live hell on earth. Because they can’t take a home. Or because they cannot afford it. Or because the rentals to be rented, promoted by the state and by the municipalities, seem not to be quite effective, because these mechanisms do not accelerate at the same speed as the continuous increase as income.
In the first three months of 2025, the support requests to pay the accommodation were practically doubled in relation to the similar period, which means only one thing: the fragile balance that existed between the salary earned and the cost of living was decidedly broken. And how many times the decision to seek support arises in extremis and shame, when families realize that the money that arrives no longer covers everything and need to often make difficult choices: income or light invoice; Income or food cabaz. In many cases, the option always falls on the payment of the first. And since they lose Temer by losing the house for non -payment, there are many families in which misery is hidden.
The warnings are not today and the notices have long been identified. (In a parallel record, and for different reasons, stories of illegal housing professions that are empty, which lead to their legitimate owners to the inertia of the authorities and the slowness of the courts, where this phenomenon has been desperate, there are private companies that end, for the end, that the authorities should do in time and hours) are multiplying to despair.
In recent times, the value of the properties has increased at a hallucinated pace: the purchase or leasing in the city such as Lisbon or Porto has become almost exclusive for very generous wallets or for those who benefit from an extraordinary income. More and more, this is a phenomenon that begins to expand in the border areas, in growing circles.
On the other hand, the restriction of limited offer of slow urban licenses, rehabilitation of buildings and land left to abandon an overwhelming demand, fueled by gold views, by the purchase of properties by foreign citizens, short tourists and bet of large real estate funds. The result? The prices that advance faster than wages and a living park that become increasingly inaccessible.
Faced with this reality, it must be seen that this is no longer resolved with simple patches. It is urgent to increase, quickly and scale, the number of fireworks at controlled prices. This government has taken a first step with the soil law and stimulating the construction to rent, but these are measures that will begin to produce only medium -term effects. And at this moment almost immediate results are needed.
I believe, that’s why, for now, it is necessary to mobilize what it is: to launch credit lines with advantageous conditions for the owners who want to maintain the lace below certain levels, accelerate the rehabilitation of free buildings and convert the empty offices into temporary accommodation.
In the same way, it is essential to create a more agile and flexible support system for those who want to rent a property and need help to do it. The income subsidies must be periodically adapted to the rhythm of inflation and paid immediately and without bureaucratic delay, which leave the families hanging on the accounts. The elegability criteria must take into account not only gross performance, but also of the weight that houses represent in the internal budget. And there must be an emergency fund capable of helping critical situations before the default leads to eviction.
But no housing policy will be sustainable without the active participation of people and private. I wrote about it several times. It is necessary to support housing cooperatives which, supported by tax and technical incentives, can offer long -term solutions, with transparent management and social commitment. But they also promote public-private partnerships which, in addition to accelerating projects, help to distribute risks and exploit the experience of the private sector in the construction and maintenance of buildings.
The moment we live requires a coordinated effort, in which legal deadlines are reduced, supports acceleration and social innovation becomes a rule. We are less than a month from the next legislative elections that will bring a new parliament and a new government. It would be interesting that the theme of accommodation had a certain priority and was intended as national design and urgency. Otherwise, very soon, terms (more) that cry and grinding macinine.
* Article originally published in the real estate diary.
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