Government wants to create a support program for young people to buy their first home. We explain what it consists of.
The emigration of young people is increasingly present 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 included a series of measures to support young people in its program presented this Wednesday, April 10th. One of them even consists of helping young people buy their first home, with the elimination of IMT and stamp duty. And it also wants to provide a public guarantee to make housing credit viable at 100% of the purchase price.
Considering that “young people are the demographic group most affected by the housing accessibility crisis, with harmful impacts on the country’s demography, and on the emigration of the most qualified”, the new Government admits that one of the “greatest difficulties” that young people face today involves buying a house. This is due to several factors, such as low wages among young people, a “more precarious” professional situation, along with high house prices and the lack of housing credit with 100% financing.
It is in this context that the new Government of Luís Montenegro wants to “free young people from paying two payments” when purchasing a house: the IMT and stamp duty to the State; and the down payment on the house for housing loans to banks. The Executive’s program therefore includes the “Support Program for Buying a First Home by Young People”, which consists of two measures that aim to help young people who do not have enough savings to support these costs:
Eliminate IMT and Stamp Tax for the purchase of own and permanent housing by young people up to 35 years of age;
Public guarantee to enable bank financing of the entire price of the purchase of their first home by young people.
Therefore, if the Government program is approved, young people up to the age of 35 will not have to pay the IMT (Municipal Tax on Onerous Property Transfers) and Stamp Tax when purchasing their first home. And if they don’t have the savings to make at least a 10% down payment of the lowest value between the price of the house and the bank’s valuation, they also have the possibility of using a public guarantee to have a housing loan with 100% financing.
Support for young people is a priority for the Government: more measures in housing and taxation
There are also other measures in the Government of Montenegro’s program to support young people in housing, fiscally and in employment, such as:
Invest in expanding the housing supply and strengthening the functioning of the rental market, promoting the emancipation of young Portuguese people;
Increase the coverage of Port 65, changing the limits for its application;
Strengthen the supply of beds in higher education, whether 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 people who have left the country in recent years;
Adopt the IRS Jovem in a lasting and structural way, which implies a reduction of 2/3 in the currently applicable rates, with a maximum rate of just 15%, directing this measure to all young people up to the age of 35, with the exception of the last bracket of income;
Reformulate the eligibility criteria for supported professional internships, in order to reinforce this response, namely the connection with the direct employability of young people by companies and the levels of scholarships offered and also improve the regulation of unsupported internships, in order to prevent abuse;
Recover the JTI – Young Technicians for Industry program, developing, with the support of the Sector Technological Centers, programs to encourage the integration of our young graduates, in the scientific, technological and management areas, in Portuguese companies;
Create a JDI program – Young Doctorates for Industry, developing, with the support of National Business Associations, programs to encourage the integration of our young doctorates, in the scientific, technological and management areas, in Portuguese companies, replacing, with advantages for Portuguese economy, the current system of research grants;
Develop, with the support of the Sector Technological Centers, training, qualification and certification programs for intermediate technical staff, adequately filling the knowledge base of the most dynamic Portuguese companies;
Promote a specific approach with the Professional Orders and representative associations regarding the retention of young people in Portugal;
Invest in the promotion of mental health, identified as one of the biggest concerns of young Portuguese people.