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Santa Casa Will Provide 300 Homes to the Affordable Rents Program

11 May 2018

The head of the institution said that the SCML has been discussing the possibility of taking part in the affordable rents program with the Lisbon City Council.

Edmundo Martinho said this Friday that the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML) has been in discussions with the Lisbon City Council (CML) regarding the affordable rents program, revealing that it has a “set of ongoing projects” that are being reformulated to “accommodate affordable housing solutions.”

“Santa Casa has a very wide and dispersed asset base,” said the head of the institution, during a presentation of its results. Mr Martinho added that it has “many assets to rehabilitate.”

“We have been discussing the possibility of taking part in the affordable rents program with the city council,” he continued, adding that “there is a set of ongoing projects that are already being reformulated to accommodate housing solutions within the framework of the affordable rents program.”

Edmundo Martinho announced that the institution intends ” to make approximately 300 homes available in a joint effort with the city council.”

Days ago, Assunção Cristas argued that the city council and SCML’s abandoned properties should be used for affordable housing. “At a time when we’ve heard about requisitioning private property, we believe that the city, State, and Santa Casa Misericórdia de Lisboa, and major landowners, should lead by example. We will work with the city council and Parliament in order to make this happen,” the leader of the CDS-PP stated.

According to the Jornal de Negócios, the centrist political party also presented a proposal this Thursday to the government calling for a survey of any real estate owned by Santa Casa. They contend that the properties should be “used for housing projects and the affordable housing program.”

Original Story: Economia Online – Rita Neto

Translation: Richard Turner