“Housing must be treated as a national priority, and it isn’t being,” notes sociologist Sandra Marques Pereira, a researcher at DINÂMIA’CET-Iscte, a centre for socioeconomic and territorial studies.

“That’s not to say there isn’t an effort, but housing policy still doesn’t have the centrality it should have given the gravity of the situation,” she considers, noting that the fact that it no longer has an autonomous Ministry is “an important indicator of weakening, which began with the previous government and is being repeated this time.”

Given this, the expert doesn’t believe “the situation will improve” and predicts that the construction of substandard housing will continue.

"It's urgent to create a national housing emergency plan," argues Isabel Santana, who retired seven months ago after 40 years working for the Lisbon City Council, half of which as head of the municipal housing management division.

"This escalating proliferation of shacks and precarious constructions won't stop. Unless we act differently, we'll have the 'illegal' housing we had in the 1980s and 1990s," she predicts, advocating for "large-scale construction" and "coordination between central administration and local government."

Co-author of Lisbon's Local Housing Strategy, Isabel Santana, believes that "municipalities play their role," but the measures they adopt "end up being quick fixes, because the volume and scale of needs are so great."

With a degree in social work, she followed the operations of the Special Rehousing Program (PER), which in 1993 removed residents from slums in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto. She notes that, at that time, there was "political awareness of housing precariousness," closely linked to the fight against poverty.

"Currently, precarious conditions are much more widespread," she compares.

"We're not just talking about the needy and low-income. Among those being evicted right now are not just families living in shacks and precarious buildings; we're talking about the elderly, who suffer from real estate bullying because of local housing. We're talking about young graduates, with master's and doctoral degrees, who have no access to housing in Lisbon without parental support," she explains.

"There needs to be a permanent program," argues Sandra Marques Pereira, who has worked on public housing policies.

Repeating mistakes

Isabel Santana points out that "we cannot repeat some of the mistakes that occurred in the PER," namely "that massive construction, the poor quality of construction, the lack of public participation in the processes, especially in the case of rehousing."

For the technician, "some parts of the city were improved, but there were situations of great socio-spatial segregation."

Isabel Santana has no doubts about situations like the recent demolitions in the Talude Militar neighbourhood in Loures: "Where are these people? People are living in the open air, people are making bonfires, and this is unacceptable; these conditions are undignified."

In turn, Sandra Marques Pereira recalls that "shacks have always been the most visible aspect of housing precariousness," but there are many other signs of crisis, such as "overcrowding and beds rented at exorbitant prices," in the face of which "the Government remains completely silent."