The drop in VAT to 6% on house construction is, at first glance, good news. It is a political signal that the country recognizes the urgency of increasing supply and making projects more viable in a high-cost context. But it would be naive to believe that this measure alone will unlock the ability to build more and better. The reality of the sector is more complex and harsher than that.
Anyone who works daily on project development knows that the real obstacle is not just the direct cost of construction. It’s time. The time wasted on licenses, opinions, reviews, reinterpretations and successive layers of bureaucracy. The time that accumulates between the desire to build and the real possibility of doing so. This time is, in itself, a form of structural inefficiency. And this inefficiency comes at a cost that easily offsets or even cancels out the positive impact of the VAT reduction.
We can lower taxes, but if we continue to take years to approve projects, nothing will change significantly. The idea that we are going to build more ignores the essential thing: we cannot build more without profoundly transforming the system that allows us to build. And this transformation is not just tax. It is legislative, administrative and needs political will at the municipal level, at the level of entities upstream and downstream of the construction of said housing.
We need an ecosystem where the rules are clear, processes predictable and deadlines met. Where digitalization is not just a slogan, but an effective practice. Where municipalities have sufficient resources and teams to respond efficiently. Where the State assumes that housing is a continuous priority and not a set of separate measures that emerge in cycles of urgency.
The drop in VAT is a step. But that’s it: one step. The real test of the new measures will be to see if we are all aligned to make them work. Because, for them to work, the will of those who build is not enough. It takes the will of those who license, those who regulate, those who govern and even those who define public policies.
There are companies ready to build. There are architects, engineers and developers with projects ready to move forward. There is investment available. What remains is to ensure that the system does not brake what it says it wants to accelerate. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing puts forward the right ideas, but just read the posts on social media and half a dozen comments to see that there is no coherent alignment, with many different examples of completely absurd situations, those that no one believes are true.
If we really want to increase the supply of housing, we have to assume that the problem is not just economic. It’s structural. And only when we face this reality with courage, efficiency and commitment will the reduction of ICMS no longer be an isolated measure and will become part of a coherent strategy to transform the country.
Building more is not enough. What we need is to build better, faster and with a system that is not, in itself, the biggest obstacle to the future.
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