Land law “will not move the clock” on land values, says Hugo Santos Ferreira
The president of the Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors admits that the sector is not at all concerned about the approval of the law that will be debated this Wednesday. “This measure is not going to make a difference, there are others missing, such as Simplex and the reduction of VAT”, he says in statements to JE.
The real estate sector is dismissing accusations that it does not want to see the land law approved because this scenario could lead to a drop in house prices. “Don’t worry, heralds of truth, because the land law, unfortunately, will not move the clock by itself,” Hugo Santos Ferreira, president of the Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors (APPII), told Jornal Económico (JE), on the day the measure is debated by the Committee on Economy, Public Works and Housing.
The leader of the promoters recalls that the land law is part of a set of measures in the 'Build Portugal' program, which he considers to be positive, but which, in his opinion, is not sufficient and will not have a great impact or effect.
“The Minister of Housing and Infrastructure has said this, the land law is not a silver bullet”, he says, adding that the real estate sector is not at all concerned about the land law.
“Quite the opposite, we want it to be approved and we have made a great effort to get it approved”, he stresses, emphasizing that the housing problem will not be resolved through the land law.
“This is not the measure that will make a difference, others are missing, such as Simplex, the reduction of VAT on construction or its deductibility”, highlights Hugo Santos Ferreira.
The proposed changes to decree-law 117/2024, of December 30, which amends the Legal Framework for Territorial Management Instruments (RJIGT) and allows the reclassification of rustic land into urban land for the construction of houses, should have been voted on last Wednesday, but were postponed at the request of Chega.
The party led by André Ventura justified the decision by saying that it needed more time to analyze the proposals from the other parties. As the request was made voluntarily, the postponement was confirmed and the vote was scheduled for today.
After coming into force on January 29, the land law was to be voted on this Wednesday with proposed amendments from the PS, PSD, Chega, IL, BE and Livre.
Initially, the Social Democrats proposed changes to Article 199, maintaining that the rules for urbanizable areas or planned urbanization are “suspended”, “automatically” being removed.
However, they now argue that the suspension does not apply to areas that have acquired characteristics of urban land, or with urbanisation works in progress and urban parameters in a request for prior information.
The socialists want the concept of “moderate-value” housing, proposed by the Government, to be replaced by public housing, for “affordable rental” or “controlled-cost housing”, as well as eliminating the possibility of building houses intended for housing agricultural workers outside existing urban areas.
Furthermore, the Socialist Party intends for the National Ecological Reserve (REN) areas to include “a second level of verification” which, respecting “the ultimate will of the local authorities”, is carried out on land that is not exclusively public, according to a non-binding opinion from the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions (CCDR).
In turn, Chega wants the reclassification of land based on a technical opinion to be “from an entity independent of the municipality”, while the Bloc proposes that “the reclassification for urban land” cannot “cover land in sensitive areas, in the REN or in the National Agricultural Reserve (RAN).
The Liberal Initiative, on the other hand, puts on the table that “municipalities may determine the reclassification as urban land, through a simplified alteration of the municipal master plan, whenever the purpose is housing or related”, as long as this corresponds to 700/1,000 of the total construction area above ground is intended for housing”, and that the mention of houses with “moderate value” is removed.
Finally, Livre intends that the reclassification to urban land includes the demonstration of the “unavailability of urban land in the existing urban area” and that the construction of housing is not permitted in all areas of the National System of Classified Areas.
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