“Prices have risen and will continue to rise. There is no solution to the housing problem without more public housing. But it cannot be built overnight,” said Miguel Pinto Luz.
The official spoke at the Greater Lisbon Summit, promoted by SIC Notícias.
In his speech, the minister argued that this is “a problem that everyone has faced directly, but it takes time to be completed.”
“Here, the municipalities have stepped up. They could build more housing and decided to do so, and the State must be grateful for that and ensure the financing of this (social) housing,” he stated.
Referring to the issue of demolitions in Talude Militar, in Loures, in the Lisbon district, Miguel Pinto Luz warned that “this problem is not exclusive to Loures for now” and that the Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation “has lands where shacks are built every day.”
The official assured that the Government is “closely monitoring” this problem in Loures and said he does not blame “those who built because they needed somewhere to live,” nor those who are trying to solve the problem.
“We need to look at both interests and find solutions for these families,” he stated, emphasizing that the Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon cannot return to the 1980s, when shantytowns proliferated, later eradicated by the Special Rehousing Programme (PER).
Stressing that “Loures is not alone,” the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing admitted that “there is no one who is not moved by those who do not have a home for the night,” but stated that they cannot allow shantytowns to continue to emerge.
