Lisbon
Reuters
—
Thousands of individuals took to the streets of Lisbon and different cities throughout Portugal on Saturday in protest in opposition to hovering rents and home costs at a time when excessive inflation is making it even more durable for folks to make ends meet.
“There is a huge housing crisis today,” Rita Silva, from the Habita housing group, mentioned on the Lisbon protest. “This is a social emergency.”
Portugal is one in every of Western Europe’s poorest international locations, with authorities knowledge displaying greater than 50% of staff earned lower than 1,000 euros ($1,084) per 30 days final yr. The month-to-month minimal wage is 760 euros ($826).
Rents in Lisbon, a vacationer hotspot, have jumped 65% since 2015 and sale costs have sky-rocketed 137% in that interval, figures from Confidencial Imobiliario, which collects knowledge on housing, present. Rents elevated 37% final yr alone, greater than in Barcelona or Paris, in response to one other actual property knowledge firm, Casafari.
The scenario is especially onerous on the younger.
The common lease for a one-bedroom flat in Lisbon is round 1,350 euros, a research by housing portal Imovirtual confirmed.
The Socialist authorities introduced final month a housing package deal that, amongst different measures, ended the controversial “Golden Visa” scheme and banned new licenses for Airbnb properties however critics say it isn’t sufficient to decrease costs within the brief time period.
At the protest, which was organised by the motion “Home to Live” and different teams, 35-year-old illustrator Diogo Guerra mentioned he hears tales about folks struggling to entry housing on daily basis.
“People who… work and are homeless, people are evicted because their house is turned into short-term accommodations (for tourists),” he mentioned.
Low wages and excessive rents make Lisbon the world’s third-least viable metropolis to stay in, in response to a research by insurance coverage brokers CIA Landlords. Portugal’s present 8.2% inflation price has exacerbated the issue.
“With my salary, which is higher than the average salary in Lisbon, I cannot afford renting a flat because it’s too expensive,” mentioned Nuncio Renzi, a gross sales government from Italy residing within the capital.
Source: www.cnn.com