Pressure is building on owners of unoccupied properties in habitable condition

The government is preparing to pass the "Mais Habitação" (More Housing) law, and is gathering pressure on owners of empty but habitable homes. The Socialists' "forced renting" plan is one of the most counter-versus executive decisions regarding Portugal's housing crisis.

This plan comes at a time when citizens across the country are discovering THOUSANDS of properties owned by the state and left to fate, in some cases for decades. However, the official report from the state-run Lusa news agency is that "owners of empty but habitable homes have 100 days to use or rent them out before the forced rental process begins. "

Many believe this emphasizes the feeling that "one law is for them, another law for the rest of society." If the state has so many vacant properties, including apartment buildings, why don't they renovate them before hunting for private investment? However, Lusa makes no mention of the millions of euros of real estate value idle from the state.

In a text published over the weekend, Lusa simply refers to Article 15 of the government's proposal, which states that "properties intended for residential purposes and considered vacant by law may be subject to compulsory leasing by municipalities for subsequent letting under public housing programs." Again, this is a bit preemptive: the law has not yet been passed and has to go through parliament. None of this is made clear.

Instead, the sense of pressure continues: "municipalities must submit a rental offer to the owner of a vacant house, who has 10 days to respond," writes Lusa, referring to a draft law published at www.consultalex.gov.pt.

On the one hand, the news warns owners to "cover their back" if they don't want the state to intervene in their investments.

The government's proposal does not consider as vacant "secondary homes, homes of emigrants or homes of people displaced for professional, educational or health reasons," says Lusa, "as well as those in which 'permissible or declared works are carried out during certain periods or in the case of court decisions preventing this use'".

According to Article 15, if empty properties are not habitable, "municipalities may necessarily carry out works necessary to remedy unfavorable safety or health conditions, as well as living conditions." The proposal provides for "compensation based on unpaid rent".

The government is clearly focused on the "easiest solution" (seizing habitable property), so the compulsory tenancy plan is likely to be carried out "with properties that meet viability conditions that allow for immediate tenancy". Lusa admits that this is "one of the most counter-versatile aspects" of the government's housing program, which has been met with resistance from landlords and several political parties.

The "Mais Habitação" program includes, "among other measures, the provision of more land for housing construction, incentives for private construction and tax breaks for landlords who rent out their homes," Lusa recalls. However, the level of hostility to this program is not diminishing.

The proposal is out for public consultation until the end of the week (March 10). Meanwhile, a civic social media page cataloging the government's unreasonable management of property argues that "it is a violation of the right to private property when the government itself is responsible for the state of the country in the areas of justice, health care, education, or housing. The aim of this group is to map/list the empty public properties and make the political authorities realize that perhaps they don't have such a serious housing problem and that they don't need populist and pointless measures that harm everyone!"

It is unclear what might happen if the government ignores the concerns of private owners. Legal action is likely to be the next step.

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