In a country marked by rising housing prices and difficulties in accessing affordable housing, municipalities in the Algarve, such as Lagoa and Loulé, are trying to give their residents the conditions to have a house, with controlled prices that can be acquired by the population in general.

On a national level, Portugal is also trying to ease the complications of finding a house, with loans and programmes already approved.

Affordable housing in Lagoa

For example, the municipality of Lagoa announced that the council has approved reclassifying 12 hectares of land for residential use, with at least 70% of the construction area earmarked for public housing, including affordable rentals and homes built under controlled-cost schemes. That is, Lagoa will have 743 homes to be built through private investment. Of these, 520 would be affordable homes, while the remaining 223 would be intended for the open market.

Works in Loulé

The Loulé Municipality has also announced, in February, the purchase of 60 properties after meetings with the Government. At the same time, the municipality announced that it was ready to provide the citizens with 150 public houses, in response to the challenges of finding affordable housing in the region.

Giving houses in Coimbra

In Coimbra, under the programme 1º Direito, there were already 128 houses given, out of 268 that will be made available, in what is considered the biggest work on public housing using the Recovery and Resilience Plan money from the European Union.

In total, there are 76 one-bedroom apartments; 110 two-bedroom apartments; 42 three-bedroom apartments; and 40 four-bedroom apartments. Located in Quinta da Bica, in Taveiro, the houses were given to people who had already shown their concerns about housing to the Juntas de Freguesia.

Lower rents and social support

Portuguese municipalities are expanding affordable accommodation schemes for university students, from subsidised residences to arrangements that let young people share homes with older residents, such as Cascais.

Through Habitar Cascais, the council provides accommodation at the Mosteiro de Santa Maria do Mar in Carcavelos and the Cascais Living Hub, with shared facilities such as kitchens, study rooms, communal areas, and Wi-Fi.

According to the municipality, the scheme offers 62 beds, with monthly rents ranging from €91.44 to €350, available to Portuguese and international students attending higher education institutions in the municipality, subject to applicable eligibility conditions.

Government efforts

Portugal’s government believes that changes to housing taxes and rental laws could encourage owners to put as many as 300,000 properties onto the market. Infrastructure and Housing Minister Miguel Pinto Luz says thousands of homes are currently kept out of the long-term rental market, often because landlords worry about the risks of renting them out. Speaking to Observador radio, the Minister said the government aims to restore confidence among property owners and make them more willing to rent out their homes.

Support from Brussels

Adding to all the efforts made by municipalities and the Government, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has also approved a loan of €300 million to support Portugal in building new houses or rehabilitating already existing properties. With this loan, the EIB will have lent Portugal €3 billion to help resolve the housing crisis.

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