The government wants to create a program to help young people buy their first home. We explain what it consists of.
Young people are emigrating more and more in Portugal. And low wages end up delaying their emancipation, as well as the purchase of a house to live in. It is in this context that the new government led by Luís Montenegro has included a series of measures to support young people in its program presented this Wednesday, April 10. One of them is to help young people buy their first home by eliminating IMT and stamp duty. He also wants to provide a public guarantee to make it possible to get a mortgage for 100% of the purchase price.
Considering that “young people are the demographic group most affected by the housing affordability crisis, with harmful impacts on the country’s demographics and the emigration of the most qualified”, the new government admits that one of the “biggest difficulties” facing young people today is buying a house. This is due to various factors, such as young people’s low salaries, a “more precarious” professional situation, high house prices and the lack of housing loans with 100% financing.
It is in this context that Luís Montenegro’s new government wants to “free young people from paying two down payments” when buying a house: the IMT and stamp duty to the state; and the down payment on the house for the housing loan to the banks. The Executive’s program therefore includes the “Support Program for the Purchase of the First Home by Young People”, which consists of two measures aimed at helping young people who don’t have enough savings to bear these costs:
- Eliminate IMT and Stamp Duty for the purchase of permanent housing by young people up to the age of 35;
- Public guarantee to make it possible for young people to finance the entire purchase price of their first home.
Thus, if the government’s program is approved, young people up to the age of 35 will not have to pay IMT (Municipal Property Transfer Tax) and Stamp Duty when buying their first home. And if they don’t have the savings to put down at least 10% of the lowest price between the price of the house and the bank valuation, they also have the possibility of using a public guarantee to get a housing loan with 100% financing.
Support for young people is the government’s priority: more measures on housing and taxes
There are also other measures in the Montenegro government’s program to support young people in housing, tax and employment, such as:
- Investing in expanding the supply of housing and strengthening the functioning of the rental market, promoting the emancipation of young Portuguese;
- Increasing the scope of Porta 65 by changing the limits for its application;
- Reinforce the supply of beds in higher education, either through student residences or by taking advantage of existing installed capacity in the public, private and social sectors;
- Create a national program to attract young Portuguese who have left the country in recent years;
- Adopt the Youth Personal Income Tax on a permanent and structural basis, which implies a 2/3 reduction in the rates currently applicable, with a maximum rate of only 15%, targeting this measure at all young people up to the age of 35, with the exception of the last income bracket;
- To reformulate the eligibility criteria for supported professional internships, in order to strengthen this response, namely the link with the direct employability of young people by companies and the levels of grants practiced, and also to improve the regulation of unsupported internships, in order to prevent abuse;
- Recover the JTI program – Young Technicians for Industry, developing, with the support of the Sectoral Technology Centers, programs to encourage the integration of our young graduates in scientific, technological and management areas into Portuguese companies;
- Create a JDI program – Young Doctorates for Industry, developing, with the support of the National Business Associations, programs to encourage the integration of our young doctorates, in scientific, technological and management areas, into Portuguese companies, replacing, with advantages for the Portuguese economy, the current system of research grants;
- Develop, with the support of the Sectoral Technology Centers, training, qualification and certification programs for intermediate technical staff, adequately filling the knowledge ranks of the most dynamic Portuguese companies;
- Promote a specific approach with the Professional Associations and representative associations regarding the retention of young people in Portugal;
- Betting on the promotion of mental health, identified as one of the greatest concerns of young Portuguese.