The measures implemented by the last governments in Portugal have not been able to respond to the housing access crisis in the country. This is the conclusion of the European Commission, which argues that the Portuguese Government should develop a “new housing strategy”, suggesting several measures that have generated protests in the real estate market. This is the case of rent controls and new limits on Local Accommodation, according to a report by idealista.

“Although Portugal has an ambitious goal of increasing the public housing stock to 5% of total housing by 2026 and providing support for renting or purchasing housing for the most vulnerable groups and families, current efforts may not be sufficient to provide the necessary systemic and short-term solutions”, begins by considering Brussels in a report on the country published this week.

The truth is that the construction of public housing has been slow. “Portugal has a very small public housing stock, less than 2%, while in 2022, vacant housing, excluding seasonal and holiday homes, represented around 12% of the country's total housing stock”, they point out.

And Brussels even says it has “serious doubts” about Portugal's ability to build the 26,000 homes financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) by June 2026. Miguel Pinto Luz, who will once again take up the post of Minister of Infrastructure and Housing in the new Constitutional Government, continues to “believe” that the RRP housing will meet deadlines.