The Porta a Porta movement, part of the Casa para Viver platform, has criticized the government in a press release issued today for implementing measures they believe will “increase prices and boost profits for those speculating with housing.”
The movement specifically criticizes the promised reduction in IRS for landlords offering “moderately priced” rentals, which “the government has not clarified.”
During Wednesday’s fortnightly debate in the Assembly of the Republic, the Prime Minister announced “a reduction in the IRS rate from 25% to 10% for rental contracts of housing priced at moderate amounts.”
Luís Montenegro also mentioned an increase in deductions for tenants, prompting Porta a Porta to highlight the “abolition of the maximum 2% rent increase cap” for new rental agreements for properties in the rental market for the past five years, with rents exceeding those stipulated in the Rental Support Program.
Other government measures include the cessation of IRS capital gains tax on property sales “if the proceeds are reinvested in properties for moderate rental” and “simplification of licensing within the urbanization and building legal regime, shortening timelines and streamlining processes.”
Porta a Porta believes that these measures “eliminate the remaining elements of tenant protection” and further facilitate “evictions in cases of rent non-payment.”
Moreover, these arise when “the government has, without explanation, excluded over 60,000 tenants from the Rental Support Program, reduced assistance to others without justification, and has not paid others at all,” the movement states.
Porta a Porta is set to announce protests in upcoming days against what it terms a “declaration of war” by the government, demanding “the immediate reversal” of these announced measures.
