LISBON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Portugal’s parliament approved on Wednesday, in the first reading, a contentious rental market overhaul aimed at speeding up evictions and ending rent controls on new leases in what the centre-right government hopes will encourage landlords to put more homes on the market.
The reform, criticised by tenants’ associations as “savagery”, sharply contrasts with developments in neighbouring Spain where the leftist government on Tuesday decreed a ban on evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, along with other measures, amid protests against evictions and rising rents.
The general outline of the reform was approved after the far-right party Chega unexpectedly abstained after having expressed its objections during the debate, while all left-wing parties voted against.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip and Aurora Ellis)
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