The government approved a set of measures regarding the housing crisis in July, with only the Socialist majority voting in favour. The legislative changes involve rent, AL, vacant properties and taxes. However, on 21 August, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, disagreed with the measures and used a presidential veto to prevent them from coming into force.

The final vote in the Assembly of the Republic took place five months after the first version of the program was approved by the Council of Ministers, with some changes, but still under opposition from various associations - business and civil society - linked to housing.


Criticism

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa criticised the lack of party consensus on the issue and used his power to prevent the measures from coming into force. This is because, as President of the Republic, he has a power that allows him, whenever he doesn't agree with a bill, to make a political veto or a legal veto. The legal veto occurs when he doesn't agree with the legality of the bill and the political veto is used whenever, although the bill has nothing against the law, it is considered not to be a good way forward for the country.

However, Parliament always has the last word. Although the President of the Republic is the head of state, Portugal's semi-presidential regime allows Parliament to confirm a bill rejected by the President of the Republic. This is what the PS intends to do after the summer because the majority the PS has in Parliament allows it. If this happens, the "More Housing" package will come into force, regardless of the President's veto.


Why is Marcelo against “More Housing”?

According to the letter sent to Parliament, with this bill "it's not easy to see where the promised supply of housing will come from" as "the state will not assume direct responsibility for housing construction."

In addition, "forced renting is so limited and time-consuming that it appears as a merely symbolic emblem, with a political cost greater than the social benefit," he said.

"The bill, despite the corrections to forced renting and AL, is unlikely to recover any lost confidence on the part of private investment, and it is certain that the public and social investment provided for in it is contained and slow", Marcelo added in the letter sent to the Parliament.

In fact, "there are no new measures in sight with immediate effect, to respond to the struggle of many families in the face of the weight of the increases in interest and, in countless situations, in rents".


Public opinion: Owners and tenants

The Association of Local Accommodation in Portugal (ALEP), one of the main opponents of the More Housing rules, was happy with the President's decision to prevent "catastrophic measures against" the sector and added that "destroying local accommodation doesn’t solve the housing problem". In the same direction, the National Landlords' Association (ANP) also cheers the presidential veto.

The Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors (APPII) believes that the President's veto is the "last chance" to create measures to bring more homes onto the market, considering that the law, "in general, does not offer an effective response to the need to create more housing for the Portuguese, neither for the sales market nor for the rental market".

On the other side, the Lisbon Tenants' Association (AIL) believes that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's veto "puts the issue back on the public agenda" and advocates strengthening the use of vacant public properties to increase the housing supply. Other tenants' associations say that the measures provided for in the bill are not enough and call for more measures to bring down rents.


Ease licensing

Despite the veto on the package of measures for housing, the government's bill on simplifying licensing in the housing sector was approved, with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa warning that the simplification of licensing should also take into account safety criteria and the quality of construction.

With this simplification, architectural projects will now only be licensed on the basis of the architect’s term of responsibility and public entities will be penalised in the event of delays in issuing opinions.

Author

Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252

Paula Martins