“The cancellation of this lottery, with public results and created expectations, has caused profound damages, not just logistic or legal, but human. It has generated anguish, emotional crises, and a feeling of abandonment. Among the most vulnerable are the children, those belonging to the families affected by the annulled lottery,” stated Ana Gaspar, one of those affected by the cancellation of the 29th Accessible Rent Program (PRA) lottery.
The resident spoke at the Lisbon Municipal Assembly meeting during the public intervention period, addressing the city council and municipal deputies, and mentioned that the affected families feel “the institutional betrayal witnessed by all, impassively.”
On Wednesday, Lisbon City Council stated it had contacted all 133 families affected by the annulment of the municipal housing lottery, having received responses from 19 so far, in which “none” provided documentation proving damages.
The issue concerns the lottery of the 29th PRA contest, with 133 housing units, which was prematurely held on June 16 due to “a technical failure” caused by “human error” and was annulled “in less than 24 hours” as it did not meet the requirement of being a public act, according to the municipal director of Housing.
Following the annulment, which invalidates the results determined on June 16 regarding housing allocation, the lottery was repeated on June 27, covering the same pool of candidates, totaling 7,362 applications.
In the assembly, Ana Gaspar warned that “these are not statistics, […] these are real lives, especially children at risk,” noting that there are families living “in total vulnerability,” including a mother undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and “another single mother caring for a severely disabled daughter without support, without a solution, without housing.”
At the end of her intervention, speaking to the Lusa agency, Ana Gaspar disclosed that there is an organized group of 25 people affected by the annulled municipal housing lottery who “ten days ago” wrote a complaint in the Lisbon City Council’s Yellow Book, having received an invitation for individual meetings on Monday, starting Thursday.
The resident added that precautionary measures to be presented by each of the affected, expected to number at least 24, to “denounce the irregularity of the process,” are still being prepared.
For Ana Gaspar, the lottery that was annulled “strictly met the legal criteria for the drawn,” but the city council’s position is that it lacked the requirement of being a public act.
“It was certain that a house would be allocated where they would anchor their life and the lives of their children. It does not take great intelligence, just some decency to understand the devastating impact of such a decision,” the citizen expressed, noting that the families “were justly awarded and then left behind,” including those with children.
“What consideration was given to the stability of these children when deciding to annul a lottery that is entirely your responsibility? What is the response to give to families who legitimately envisioned a more dignified life with affordable housing?” she questioned, asserting that the city council should take responsibility towards these families, creating an alternative compatible with the expectations created.
The resident also criticized the stance taken by the city council, considering that “saying it was a mistake and apologizing like someone stumbling on the street is, at the very least, insulting.”
Recalling that it was promised there would be a case-by-case reassessment, Ana Gaspar said that “to this day no family has been contacted” and requested a meeting with the mayor.
