Government promises more houses and lower tax burden

In the program presented to Parliament this Saturday, the Executive led by Luís Montenegro establishes the priorities for increasing the supply of housing in the country. At the top, the Government wants to “build 59 thousand public houses and provide financing for more projects, including PPPs in vacant State properties with housing potential”.

Furthermore, it is proposed to create “an exceptional and temporary regime that accelerates construction and renovation by private or cooperative supply, namely through the elimination or reduction of tax costs on construction or rehabilitation works; substantial reduction of urbanization, building, use and occupation fees; application of VAT at a minimum rate of 6% on construction and rehabilitation works and services, with a limit on the incidence of the final value of the properties”

The “dynamization of priority urban expansion areas is also planned, through urban rehabilitation and housing promotion companies, in conjunction with municipal councils, following the Parque Expo model, with decentralized planning and licensing and expeditious execution of infrastructure and social equipment, in the spirit of the announced Parque Cidades do Tejo (transformation of the Lisbon metropolitan area, articulated in four major axes – Arco Ribeirinho Sul, Ocean Campus, Humberto Delgado Airport and Airport City)”.

Among other measures, the Government also plans to “undertake a thorough review of the entire legislative framework for urban planning licensing and control and create a new construction code, decisively reinforcing simplification and predictability, completing the transition from the prior control model to an objective a posteriori inspection model”.

With regard to the rental market, the Executive led by Luís Montenegro proposes to move forward, among other things, with the “review and rationalization of all public rental support programs, simplifying and accelerating procedures and reinforcing efficiency and equity in support”.