Loures: eviction order for 200 families

The Vida Justa movement denounced this Thursday that an eviction order was given to 200 families in the municipal housing neighborhood of Quinta do Mocho, in the municipality of Loures, where “daily evictions have been taking place” since last week.

In a statement, Vida Justa states that “a significant portion of the people evicted in Quinta do Mocho, or with an eviction order, are not in a situation” of non-compliance.

At the same time, according to the movement, the debt regularization plan of up to 60 installments promised by the Loures municipality was not presented to those who are actually behind in paying their rent.

At the end of May, during the Local Summit event, promoted by the newspaper Eco, the president of the Municipal Council of Loures, Ricardo Leão (PS), announced that he would proceed with the eviction of 400 families from municipal neighborhoods in the municipality, for non-payment of rent for more than two years and for not responding to attempts to regularize their debts.

At the same event, Ricardo Leão mentioned that around two years ago, 1,200 tenants from municipal neighborhoods were identified as not paying their rent.

In October 2024, in statements to Lusa, the socialist mayor had expressed his intention to evict households in municipal housing who did not respond to the proposal to regularize outstanding rents, indicating, at the time, that the plan covered 550 families.

In the case of Quinta do Mocho, Vida Justa counters, “there are cases of residents who have been ordered to be evicted because they welcomed family members into their home who do not belong to the household stated in the contract, cases of residents who stopped paying rent a few months ago, when it was increased by Loures City Council, cases of families who have lived in the neighborhood for decades whose original holder of the contract died, making it impossible for their children to transfer ownership”.

In recent weeks, “cancer patients or elderly people who have been bedridden in hospital for months and have therefore stopped paying their rent have been evicted,” the movement details, arguing that the situation “cannot be resolved by evicting residents onto the streets without alternative solutions.”

“It is urgent that all and any eviction operations from the homes of families without alternative housing be suspended”, appeals Vida Justa, recalling that housing is a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and that the Housing Framework Law states that local authorities cannot promote the administrative eviction of vulnerable people or families without first guaranteeing rehousing solutions.

The Loures executive is made up of four elected members of the PS, including the president, four from the CDU, two from the PSD and one from Chega.

The PS and PSD established an agreement to guarantee the governmental stability of the City Council, won in September 2021 by the socialist Ricardo Leão without an absolute majority.