‘More Housing’ undergoes final vote in Parliament
The government’s controversial ‘Mais Habitação’ (More Housing) will undergo a final vote this afternoon in Parliament.
With its more than likely approval thanks to the PS goverment’s majority in Parliament, it is due to be sent to President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, next week for promulgation.
In the specialty debate that ended two weeks ago, the Socialist Party (PS) accepted 12 amendment proposals presented by opposition parties, covering the entire political spectrum except for Chega.
“We approved and valued the opposition’s proposals during the specialty discussion because we believed they were good solutions that improved the ‘Mais Habitação’ (More Housing) plan and contributed to our objective of providing more housing for the Portuguese people,” Maria Begonha, the coordinator of the Housing Working Group, told Expresso newspaper.
Among the most relevant changes, PS highlights the increase in the Municipal Property Tax (IMI) for vacant properties, amendments to the New Urban Rental Regime (NRAU) to provide greater protection for tenants facing evictions, and the repeal of tax benefits for urban rehabilitation by investment funds, as proposed by Bloco de Esquerda (BE).
Proposals presented by PSD were also accepted, such as increasing deductions for dependents that municipalities can apply to IMI and the allocation of revenue from the Special Contribution for Local Accommodation (CEAL) collected in the autonomous regions to the local counterparts of the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU).
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