“If every empty house in the hands of banks and real estate funds were to be taxed progressively from day one, with one euro, then two euros on day two, and three euros on day three, I have no doubt that house prices would drop immediately,” stated Paulo Raimundo.
The communist leader was speaking during a housing session in Rio Tinto, Gondomar, organized by the CDU (Democratic Unity Coalition – PCP and Ecologist Party “The Greens”).
In his address, Paulo Raimundo focused on banks and their role in real estate market speculation, noting this sector is immune to “all the sacrifices” that are demanded elsewhere.
“They always escape all efforts,” he observed, asserting that such a tax would swiftly curb “speculation” and release these currently vacant houses “for the people who need them.”
Paulo Raimundo emphasized the necessity of more state intervention in the sector and advocated for dedicating 1% of GDP to public housing construction, while acknowledging there are no “magic solutions” to this issue, which nearly requires “a toolbox” to resolve.
“The outcome of having handed over Article 65 of our Constitution—the right to housing—to the so-called market is evident. This is not a market. This is a group of vultures that drain us to continue filling their pockets,” he said.
Addressing an audience of party members and supporters, Paulo Raimundo suggested considering what it would mean if other fundamental sectors, such as health, education, or social security, had a similar minimal state presence (2%).
“Each person should think about the state of their health if the state only controlled 2% while the private sector held 98%,” he added.
As such, he advocates that the solutions for housing lie in “more State, more State, more State.”
In the urban park of Rio Tinto, in the Porto district, the PCP’s secretary-general spoke with a poster of the Montenegro leader visible behind him, situated on a roundabout, which Paulo Raimundo did not ignore.
“I will use that slogan there. That gentleman says Portugal cannot stop. It’s not all wrong, but there is a mistake. Instead of ‘Portugal cannot stop,’ it should be ‘Portugal must stop going backwards in people’s lives.’ That’s what’s missing from that poster. But, of course, it wasn’t possible to write that on the poster,” he said.
The session included participation from individuals such as deputy Alfredo Maia, who is number one in Porto, and João Ferreira, number two in the same circle, whom Paulo Raimundo hopes might be elected (the CDU managed to elect only one deputy from this district in both 2024 and 2022).
