"According to these parameters, of the applicants, only 3% are not eligible", revealed the councillor for Housing, Filipa Roseta (PSD), in response to the Lusa agency.

The proposal provides for an amendment to the Municipal Regulation on the Right to Housing, determining that "the competitions for the Affordable Rent Programme, promoted under the terms of this regulation and whose grants are made up of fractions financed by the Recovery and Resilience Programme -- PRR or 1st Right, the average monthly income of the person or household must be less than four times the IAS".

This year, the IAS increased to 509.26 euros, when in 2023 it was set at 480.43 euros.

In a private meeting, the proposal signed by the Councillor for Housing was approved by a majority, with two abstentions from the PCP and 15 votes in favour, namely seven from the PSD/CDS-PP leadership, three from the PS, three from Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), one from the BE and one from the Livre.

"The amendment now introduced allows us to maximise the capture of funding for all the investment that the Lisbon City Council (CML) is making in housing until 2028 through the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU)", indicated the Councillor for Housing.

Filipa Roseta considered that the investment in this area is "an unprecedented ambition for housing in Portugal, only partially comparable to the ambition of the PER -- Special Rehousing Programme, from 1993".

The person responsible for the Housing portfolio also said that the CML is "investing heavily in the rehabilitation of fractions and in the new construction of buildings", which will be integrated into affordable rent programmes and, in order to be eligible for funding by the PRR/1st Right, it is necessary to adjust the overall income of the household to the permitted values.

This update affects the minimum and maximum limits of the overall income of households applying for the Affordable Rent Programme, in which the average monthly income of the person or household must be less than four times the IAS, that is, up to 2,037.04 euros.

Unanimously, the CML approved the launching of competitions for the Affordable Rent Programme (PRA) in the parish of Benfica "until the totality of the houses acquired, built or rehabilitated by the parish council under the PRR is completed", determining that the competitions are governed by the Municipal Regulation for Access to Housing (RMDH).

The executive of the Lisbon City Council, which is made up of 17 members, includes seven elected members of the "New Times" coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança) -- who are the only ones with portfolios assigned and who govern without an absolute majority --, three from the PS, two from the PCP, three from Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), one from the Livre and one from the BE.

Leia Também: Lucro da Ibersol afunda mais de 90% para 15,4 milhões de euros em 2023 (Portuguese version)