The President of the Republic vetoed the set of legislative amendments in the field of housing approved by the absolute majority of the PS in parliament, expressing a “serene negative judgment” about them, and criticized the lack of consensus.
“I know, and we all know, that the parliamentary absolute majority can repeat, in a few weeks, the approval just voted. But, as will be understood, this is not what can or should prevent the expression of a deep conviction and a serene negative analytical judgment”, pointed out Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in the message he sent to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, available on the website of the Presidency.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in the letter sent to the President of the Assembly of the Republic explaining his veto, points out, for example, that “the present diploma, despite the corrections in forced leasing and in local accommodation, hardly allows to recover any lost confidence on the part of the private investment, being certain that the public and social investment, foreseen therein, is restrained and slow”.
On the other hand, he adds, “there are no new measures in sight, with immediate effect, in response to the suffocation of many families in the face of the weight of increases in interest rates and, in countless situations, in rents”.
“All in all, neither in forced leasing, nor in local accommodation, nor in the involvement of the State, nor in its support for cooperatives, nor in the concrete means and deadlines for action, nor in the total absence of a regime agreement or minimum party consensus, this diploma is sufficiently credible in terms of its short-term execution, and therefore mobilizes the challenge to be faced by all its essential actors – public, private, social, and, above all, Portuguese in general”, stresses the President of the Republic.
The President of the Republic returned to the Assembly of the Republic, without promulgation, the Decree approving measures in the field of housing, making several legislative changes, with the following message:
«Belém Palace, August 20, 2023
Your Excellency
The President of the Assembly of the Republic,
I address Your Excellency under the terms of paragraph 1 of Article 136 of the Constitution, transmitting this message to the Assembly of the Republic on Decree No. legislative amendments, as follows:
1. The emergence of the housing crisis, which especially affects young people and more vulnerable families, but is beginning to reach the middle classes, as well as the need to increase the supply of housing properties, led the Government, six months ago, to announce an ambitious More Housing Program, shortly after recreating a Ministry for Housing.
This Program included significant administrative simplification measures, included in another diploma of the Assembly of the Republic, which I have just enacted.
But, above all, it appeared, in the eyes of the Portuguese, centered on five very strong ideas:
1st – The forced leasing of vacant private houses, increasing the housing supply;
2nd – Limitation to local accommodation, thereby also allowing an increase in the offer of affordable rentals;
3rd – Reinforcement of the role of the State in offering more houses, by itself and in collaboration with cooperatives, extending the aforementioned accessible lease;
4th – The provision of public incentives to private ones to increase the intended offer;
5th – Transitional measures, including limitations on rising rents, during the start-up and consolidation period of the Programme.
Everything aimed at introducing a quick shock to the housing market, which would respond to the emergency, be visible until 2026 – the end of the legislature – and allow to stop the vertiginous rise in the cost of housing, while it was expected that the interest on real estate credit, which costs one million and two hundred thousand contracts, to stop its asphyxiating climb.
2. The presentation of the Mais Habitação Program ended up polarizing the debate around two central themes – forced renting and local housing. The effects were immediate:
1st – Erased other proposals and measures and made it very difficult to reach a desirable regime agreement on Housing, outside and inside the Assembly of the Republic.
2nd – It gave a reason – fair or unfair – for perplexity and waiting time for some private investment, without which any global solution is insufficient.
3rd – Radicalized positions in Parliament, leaving the absolute majority almost isolated, attacked, on the one hand, in a proclamatory style, unrealistic and, perhaps, unconstitutional, for falling excessively on private initiative, and, on the other, of insufficiency and timidity in State intervention.
As soon as March 9th, I gave my opinion on the risks of an overly optimistic speech, of high expectations for the deadline, the means and the administrative machinery available and, therefore, of possible unrealism in the projected results.
3. Six months later, the present diploma unfortunately confirms these risks.
1st – Except in a limited way, and with European funds, the State will not assume direct responsibility in the construction of housing.
2nd – The support given to cooperatives or the use of vacant public buildings, or private buildings acquired or contracted for affordable rent, imply a slow bureaucracy and the use of entities overwhelmed with other tasks, such as the Banco de Fomento, or without means up to the required level, such as the IHRU.
3rd – Forced leasing becomes so limited and time-consuming that it appears as a merely symbolic emblem, with a political cost greater than the tangible social benefit.
4th – The equal complexity of the local accommodation regime makes it doubtful that it will quickly achieve the intended effects.
5th – The present diploma, despite the corrections in forced leasing and in local accommodation, makes it difficult to recover any confidence lost on the part of private investment, given that the public and social investment, foreseen therein, is contained and slow.
6th – There are no new measures in sight, with immediate effect, in response to the suffocation of many families in the face of the weight of increases in interest rates and, in numerous situations, in rents.
7th – Regime agreement does not exist and, without a change in course, perhaps it will not exist until 2026.
4. In simple terms, it is not easy to see where the promised housing supply will come from effectively and quickly.
It is an example of how a bad start in response to a need that time has made dramatic, crucial and very urgent can mark it negatively.
No obvious political recovery in the short term, despite the work put into joining several laws into one and certain positive ideas, diluted by the essence of the solutions found.
That is, all in all, neither in forced leasing, nor in local accommodation, nor in the involvement of the State, nor in its support for cooperatives, nor in the concrete means and deadlines for action, nor in the total absence of a regime agreement or minimum consensus party, the present diploma is sufficiently credible in terms of its short-term execution, and, therefore, mobilizing for the challenge to be faced by all its essential protagonists – public, private, social, and, above all, Portuguese in general.
I know, and we all know, that the parliamentary absolute majority can repeat, in a few weeks, the approval just voted.
But, as will be understood, this is not what can or should prevent the expression of a profound negative conviction and a serene analytical judgment.
In these terms, I return, without enactment, Decree No. 81/XV, which approves measures in the field of housing, making several legislative changes.
The President of the Republic
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa»
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