Condominiums, which are required to set up a reserve fund to cover maintenance costs in the common areas of the building, will now be subject to inspection to assess whether the fund actually exists and is being used for the legally intended purposes. The measure should be included in the new Basic Housing Law: it is a proposal by the CDS-PP that has the support of the PS and the PSD.
The proposal in question was presented as part of the creation of the Basic Housing Law, and this Wednesday (May 15, 2019), during the debate in Parliament, it already received the express agreement of the PS and the PSD, writes Jornal de Negócios. It should be noted that the period for submitting ideas and proposals for amendments to the bills presented has already ended, and a vote on the three bills on the table, from the PS, PCP, and BE, is scheduled for May 28.
According to the publication, reserve funds have been established by law since the 1990s, and the expectation is that each condominium owner will contribute annually to them with an amount proportional to their share in the property, with the amounts deposited in the bank to be managed by the condominium administration according to contingencies. This way, if there is a need for repairs, there would already be an amount available. However, the legislature never created mechanisms to monitor or sanction condominiums that do not comply, and the CDS proposal is that there should be one, “under penalty of cities having their housing stock increasingly degraded due to a lack of repairs in older and needy buildings.”
The centrists, who do not have their own Housing Base Law initiative, presented a proposal to amend the PS bill, which already includes an article on condominiums and also refers to reserve funds. “If condominiums are not prepared to take care of their buildings, there will certainly be serious habitability problems in the future,” said Deputy Luís Vilhena, quoted by the publication.
PSD supports PS on debt repayment
The PS's proposal to allow the surrender of the house to repay the mortgage debt was supported in Parliament by the PSD, whose position depends on the concept being defined in a “more transparent” way.
At issue is the idea of “accepting payment in kind in fulfillment of the debt, extinguishing the debtor's obligations regardless of the value attributed to the property for that purpose, provided that this is contractually established, with the credit institution being responsible for providing this information before the contract is signed,” according to the PS proposal.
According to Lusa, PSD deputy António Costa Silva said that the PS initiative for debt repayment is close to the position of the Social Democrats, noting that this must be defined “in a more transparent way.”
The PCP has a proposal to this effect, but it is now the only one, after the BE dropped its proposal and is now praising that of the PS, writes Negócios.
“We need an ASAE for housing,” says Helena Roseta
Meanwhile, according to Expresso, independent MP Helena Roseta, author of the first version of the Basic Housing Law, wants to see the creation of a National Housing Authority in the bill, a body to oversee compliance with the law in terms of habitability or rental conditions, with powers to impose fines, but ensuring the protection of tenants in vulnerable situations.
“We need an ASAE for housing, and it may not even be under the name I propose. There has to be an authority, because this is a jungle,” said Helena Roseta, referring to an idea presented, “and rightly so,” by the Socialist Youth. “This authority has to be independent, it can't be a landlord or tenant, this is very important, it has to be a kind of ASAE,” added the member of Parliament. This is, in fact, one of the five amendments that Roseta is proposing to the PS's bill.
(Source: Idealista, edited by ASMIP)