A statement from Vida Justa claims that “a significant portion of the people evicted in Quinta do Mocho, or facing eviction, are not in a situation of default.”
Additionally, according to the movement, the debt regularization plan for up to 60 installments promised by the municipality of Loures has not been presented to those who are actually behind on rent payments.
In late May, during the Local Summit event organized by the Eco newspaper, the Mayor of Loures, Ricardo Leão (PS), announced plans to evict 400 families from municipal neighborhoods in the municipality due to rent delinquency for over two years and for not responding to attempts to regularize debts.
At the same event, Ricardo Leão mentioned that about two years ago, 1,200 tenants in municipal neighborhoods were identified as not paying rent.
In October 2024, speaking to Lusa, the socialist mayor expressed his intention to evict families in municipal housing who did not respond to the proposal to regularize outstanding rent, indicating at the time that the plan covered 550 families.
In the case of Quinta do Mocho, Vida Justa countered, “there are cases of residents who received eviction orders because they housed relatives not listed in the declared family unit, cases of residents who stopped paying rent a few months ago when it was increased by the Loures Municipal Council, cases of families who have lived in the neighborhood for decades whose original contract holder died, preventing the children from transferring the contract.”
In recent weeks, “cancer patients or elderly individuals hospitalized for months have been evicted because they stopped paying rent,” the movement details, arguing that the situation “cannot be resolved by evicting residents without alternative solutions.”
“It is urgent to suspend all eviction operations of families without housing alternatives,” appeals Vida Justa, recalling that housing is a fundamental right enshrined in the Portuguese Constitution and that the Basic Housing Law states that local municipalities cannot promote the administrative eviction of vulnerable people or families without first ensuring rehousing solutions.
The executive of Loures comprises four elected officials from the PS, including the president, four from the CDU, two from the PSD, and one from Chega.
The PS and PSD established an agreement to ensure government stability in the Municipal Council, won in September 2021 by the socialist Ricardo Leão without an absolute majority.
