2024-01-27 19:50:18
Less than two months before the early legislative elections, scheduled for March 10, thousands of people took to the streets this Saturday (27), in around 20 cities in Portugal, to denounce the housing crisis and demand solutions.
Published on: 01/27/2024 – 20:50Modified on: 01/27/2024 – 20:52
2 min
“It’s important that our governments understand that housing policy needs to change drastically,” said Rita Branco, a 27-year-old nurse who has so far been unable to find a place to live and move out of her parents’ house.
Several associations called for a third day of mobilization, in less than a year, to defend the right to housing for everyone.
Portugal is preparing to organize early legislative elections after the resignation of the socialist prime minister, António Costa, accused of influence peddling.
Last year, Costa’s government adopted measures to curb real estate speculation. One of them foresees the end of golden visas, which are residence permits granted to wealthy foreign investors.
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The situation has worsened in recent months
The Costa government’s plan also included proposals to favor the property rental market and the construction of new social housing, but it appears not to have had the effect expected by the population. “The government’s measures will not solve anything,” said Rita Silva, leader of a group that fights for the right to housing.
“We need housing that is currently used as financial assets to move into the residential market,” she said. Despite these measures, the situation has worsened even further in recent months, forcing many families to leave city centers – a phenomenon common to other European capitals, such as Paris.
The rise in interest rates decided by the European Central Bank (ECB) is affecting a large number of property owners with variable rate loans, while house prices continued to rise by 11.8% per year in 2023, according to the residential prices Confidencial Imobiliário.
With information from AFP
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