Sales New wants more social housing and at controlled costs

A Municipal Charter of Housing of Vendas Novas, in the district of Évora, provides investment in social housing and at controlled costs and incentives to private to increase housing supply in the county, was today released.

In a statement, the municipality, with a majority PSD, indicated that the Municipal Housing Charter was approved unanimously at the chamber meeting held on Wednesday, now following the document for the public consultation phase.

It is a “strategic document that establishes the priorities and lines of intervention of the municipality in the housing sector for the next 10 years, seeking to create conditions to increase the supply of housing”, he stressed.

The letter, according to the municipality, presents “a diagnosis of the housing reality” of the municipality, which identifies “the exponential increase in the median value of the sale of dwellings per square metre and the existence of about 1,000 vacant dwellings and almost 2,000 houses in need of repair or conservation”.

The document “concludes the promotion of housing at controlled costs and for affordable rental, rehabilitation of the existing housing park, mobilization of vacant properties and creation of partnerships with public, private and cooperative entities”, he stressed.

Contacted by the agency Lusa, the president of the Chamber of Sales Novas, Ricardo Videira (PSD), stressed that the municipality intends to “guarante investment in social housing with the use of European funds whenever possible”.

“ What we have identified in the document are 13 housing for social purposes ", said, pointing out that the objective is to increase by 20% the municipal housing park, currently around 50 houses.

The mayor pointed out that, in the social area, the chamber also wants to “ensure that, in emergency situations, there are spaces available to house families”.

According to the president of the municipality, another aspect of the letter “is the mobilization of public resources to ensure the supply of housing, especially at controlled costs”, through municipal allotments.

“The mobilization of spaces that allow the housing of private-controlled costs, that is, partnerships with private ones” is also contemplated, observed, revealing that this solution is planned for the settlement of Landeira and Vendas Novas.

The social-democratic mayor pointed out that “at least 10 [houses] are of controlled costs”, as well as others that “depend on public-private partnerships”.

As for the planned investment, Ricardo Videira gave as an example the municipal allotment of São Domingos Sávio, planned to be launched next year, with 36 lots and “an estimated cost that will go around 1.5 million euros”.

“The mobilization of resources is happening according to availability,” he stressed.

The document also includes incentives for private individuals who recover buildings or who build housing at controlled costs, through the reduction of municipal fees and the speed of urban licensing processes.

“ The incentives for the requalification of existing buildings have the aspect of reducing the tax burden for those who are making investments and increasing the tax burden for the owners of abandoned and discarded buildings”, he noted.