José Luís Carneiro attended the presentation of Miguel Paulo’s candidacy for the Rio Maior City Hall, in the Santarém district, where he revisited the issue of housing, one of the commitments of the Socialist Party (PS) candidates in the local elections on October 12.
“The government boasting about delivering 10,000 houses so far is actually boasting about the work carried out by previous Socialist Party governments, as they have not put a single new house on the housing market,” he criticized.
According to the socialist leader, it was the PS government that negotiated the Recovery and Resilience Plan in Brussels and also made agreements with municipalities across the country for local housing strategies, enabling the provision of 26,000 homes.
“I know on social media, people often ask us: what have you done in eight years? In housing and many other areas? I ask, with dignity and a sense of responsibility, tell them it was us,” he appealed.
Carneiro highlighted that it was the PS that negotiated “an important financial investment package to allow the planning of the first national housing strategy” and secured “part of the funding for these local housing strategies.”
“It is now necessary for the government to fulfill what was planned, with funding guarantees, and essential that the government also does its part by planning to invest even more in the housing needs of our country,” he urged.
The new housing measures presented by the government were also a point of contention in his speech.
“When the prime minister considers a rent of 2,300 euros as moderate, it shows a lack of understanding of the living conditions of the Portuguese middle classes,” he claimed.
This measure, according to the PS leader, will “contribute to housing prices increasing even more than they already have.”
“We will have young people who will not be able to remain in their current homes because rents will rise again, as this is not a solution to the needs of families and young people in our country,” he warned.
