Livre calls for urgent housing debate in Portugal

On Monday, the Livre Party requested that an urgent debate be scheduled in the Assembly of the Republic on the housing crisis for Wednesday, CNN Portugal reports.

Several protests took place across the country over the weekend, notably in Lisbon and Porto, with some demonstrators continuing to camp in Praça D. João I, in Porto, and in Rossio, in Lisbon.

In a request addressed to the president of parliament, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, Livre’s parliamentary group requested an urgent debate for 21 October on the topic “Responding to the emergency: a National Housing Service”.

The party argues that “in recent weeks there has been a strong and widespread mobilisation in the country for the right to housing,” which demands policies for affordable housing.

Livre, led by Isabel Mendes Lopes and Jorge Pinto, states that this “has been a clear sign that the housing crisis is an unavoidable problem for a large part of the population.”

Proposed housing measures

The party said that it will present measures such as the creation of a “National Housing Service,” the Public Housing Fund, the expansion of the Porta 65 programme, and the revision of the Extraordinary Rent Support.

Among the party’s concrete proposals are also support for the cooperative sector and an end to tax benefits “that encourage real estate speculation.”

Livre believes that “citizen mobilisation has paved the way for concrete and immediate solutions that guarantee the realisation of the right to housing for all people in Portugal.”

Parliamentary debate procedures

According to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic, each parliamentary group may request urgent debates, which must be scheduled under parliamentary rules, with Government representation required, CNN Portugal reports.