During a press conference amid the second Council of Ministers addressing the housing crisis within two weeks, Miguel Pinto Luz emphasized the need to “ensure dignified living conditions” for construction sector workers.
The support, attributed to their participation in the “national effort” to build more housing, involves providing temporary housing “at the construction site,” stated the minister, without further elaboration.
Neither Prime Minister Luís Montenegro nor Miguel Pinto Luz took questions from journalists following their statements.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Housing later held a meeting with journalists where the Secretary of State for Housing, Patrícia Gonçalves Costa, elaborated on the support for construction workers, noting that legislation already exists to provide temporary accommodation on construction sites.
Under this legislation, she detailed, workers can be accommodated close to constructions in containers or adapted existing houses during the construction period, without requiring urban planning procedures.
“It is an agile process,” she described, adding that the measure could extend to the agriculture and tourism sectors.
The government announced a series of housing measures today, including reducing the VAT rate to 6% for building houses for sale up to 648,000 euros or, if for rent, with rents up to 2,300 euros.
Luís Montenegro acknowledged that the reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) for building houses to rent at up to 2,300 euros might seem “a bit high,” but argued it is a “maximum ceiling” meant to cover home construction for families in high-pressure areas like Lisbon and Porto’s Metropolitan Area.
The Prime Minister also announced an increase in the Municipal Property Transfer Tax (IMT) for non-resident purchases of residential properties in Portugal, excluding emigrants.
