Applications to the Porta 65 Jovem program will no longer require the prior presentation of a rental contract and can now be made with three pay slips, instead of the current six, according to the government. In addition, the amount of rent will no longer be an exclusion criterion.
The measures, approved by the Council of Ministers, were announced by the Minister for Youth and Modernization and, as a source from Margarida Balseiro Lopes' office told Lusa, will come into force during the next application period in September.
She explained that the aim of the changes is to adapt the rules of the public rental support program "to the reality of young people in Portugal". She added that these legislative measures are "relatively simple from a logistical point of view, but have a very real and concrete impact on the lives of young people".
The executive will "eliminate the maximum rent as an exclusion factor", preventing, for example, a candidate from no longer being eligible for support because the house they have arranged to rent costs 401 euros and the ceiling for the municipality in question is 400 euros.
Application no longer requires a previous rental contract
On the other hand, Margarida Balseiro Lopes pointed out, applicants will no longer have to first get a rental contract or a promise of a contract in order to find out how much they will receive from the state only afterwards, according to the current rules.
"This system makes no sense. First of all, young people go to the Housing Portal, apply and don't attach any contract or promise of a contract. And the state will tell the young person how much support they will receive and then [...] the young person will look for a house according to the amount they will receive," he explained, adding that there will be a two-month deadline for this search process.
On the other hand, the number of pay slips a young person has to present in order to apply will be halved - from six to three - (when they don't submit their tax return), which will reduce the wait for those who have recently entered the job market.
“In practice, this change, which even seems administrative, will speed up the life of young Portuguese by three months,” stressed the Minister for Youth, who also announced a reinforcement of the Porta 65 Jovem allocation to cover more beneficiaries.
According to Margarida Balseiro Lopes' office, the 37 million euros provided for in this year's State Budget will be increased by 16 million euros and by 2025 this increase will be 26 million euros.
After 28,000 young people were supported under the program last year, the government's (PSD/CDS-PP) estimate is to reach 40,000 this year.
Citizens between the ages of 18 and 34 (in the case of couples, one of the members can be 36) who do not benefit from other public housing subsidies can apply for Porta 65 Jovens, among other conditions.
Source: idealistanews