# Our six housing proposals for Portugal, with the evidence > Reverse the 2012 rent law, no eviction without somewhere to go, a brake on funds buying homes, more public housing, empty homes back in use and truly affordable rent caps, with the research behind them. URL: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/en/our-demands/ Language: en-GB Last updated: 2026-10-29 Other languages: pt: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/o-que-exigimos.md, es: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/es/lo-que-exigimos.md, eu: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/eu/zer-eskatzen-dugu.md, fr: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/fr/nos-revendications.md, it: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/it/cosa-chiediamo.md, el: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/el/ti-diekdikoume.md, de: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/de/unsere-forderungen.md, cs: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/cs/co-pozadujeme.md, pl: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/pl/postulaty.md, ca: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/ca/que-exigim.md, gl: https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/gl/o-que-esiximos.md --- Our programme # Our demands Six proposals to make housing affordable again, which any government can put into practice. All of them are already in place in other European countries or provided for in Portuguese law, and for each we list the studies and data behind it, the risks to avoid and the most common objections, with our answers. 01 ## Reverse the rent law Law 31/2012, passed under the troika bailout, scrapped the five-year minimum for leases, cut from five years to two the notice a landlord must give to end an open-ended lease without a reason, and created a fast-track eviction procedure. It promised more homes to rent, but no study shows it delivered them. Parts of it were corrected in 2019 and 2023, and the government now proposes to turn the clock back. Europe is moving the other way: the Netherlands, Scotland, England and Ireland have ended short leases as the norm or no-fault endings. Measures - Open-ended leases as the norm, or a minimum term of five years, as before 2012 and as in Spain (five years, seven if the landlord is a company). - Landlords can only end a lease on grounds set out in law: needing the home for themselves or their children, major works, unpaid rent or another serious breach. Never to raise the rent, as German law puts it. - Permanent protection for people aged 65 or over or with a disability who have lived in the same home for many years, as the law has done since 2023 for leases signed before 1990, with the social cost borne by the State, not the landlord. - Reject government bill 103/XVII, which scraps the cap on rent rises in new leases, allows eviction after two months of arrears and removes the cap on deposits. Objections and answers ### Without short leases, landlords will stop renting. Before 2012, fixed-term leases lasted at least five years, and no study shows that scrapping that rule brought more homes onto the rental market. In Germany, where a landlord needs a legitimate interest to end a lease, 52.8% of the population rents, the highest share in the EU. France requires three years (six for companies) and Spain five (seven for companies), and both have large rental markets. What research links to less supply is rigid rent freezes, which we don’t propose ([see proposal 6](#exigencia-6)). ### This is a radical idea. Ending no-fault evictions in England was proposed by Theresa May’s Conservative government in 2019, which called them “one of the biggest causes” of family homelessness; the law has been in force since 1 May 2026. In the Netherlands, ending temporary leases as the norm was passed in 2023 with the backing of Mark Rutte’s government. In Ireland, since March 2026, landlords with four or more homes can no longer end a lease without one of the grounds set out in law. ### What about tenants who don’t pay? They can still be evicted: unpaid rent is a ground for ending a lease in every model we mention. Since 2023, Portuguese law has provided for the State to pay the landlord, in the cases it sets out, the rent that falls due during an eviction case for arrears. We propose strengthening that guarantee, so that tenants’ security isn’t paid for by landlords. What the research and data show - [Law 31/2012](https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/lei/2012-34582275) ([summary of the changes](https://www.cca.law/xms/files/INSIGHTS_AND_MEDIA/informative_notes/a2ccaapresentacaoarrendamentolei31-2012gacmap.pdf)): scrapped the five-year minimum for fixed-term leases, cut from five years to two the notice for a landlord to end an open-ended lease without a reason, and created the special eviction procedure. Its stated aim, in the troika memorandum, was to increase the supply of homes to rent. - [Law 13/2019](https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/lei/2019-119397731): restored some stability, with leases of at least one year, three-year renewals and five years’ notice to end an open-ended lease without a reason. [Law 56/2023](https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/lei/56-2023-222477692): leases signed before 1990 no longer move to the new regime, and the State pays the landlord, in the cases it sets out, the rent that falls due during an eviction case. - [DECO PROteste (2026)](https://www.deco.proteste.pt/dinheiro/arrendamento/noticias/arrendamento-revisao-lei-preve-fim-limite-rendas-agiliza-despejos): bill 103/XVII scraps the 2% cap on new leases, allows eviction after two months of arrears (three today) and removes the cap on deposits. [It passed its first reading](https://www.dnoticias.pt/2026/9/30/507386-proposta-do-governo-para-rever-regime-do-arrendamento-aprovada-na-generalidade/) on 30 September 2026 and is being debated in committee. - [UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing (2017)](https://undocs.org/A/HRC/34/51/Add.2), after visiting Portugal: liberalising the rental market made it easier to evict or relocate tenants. - [Eurostat (2025)](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ilc_lvho02/default/table): 52.8% of Germany’s population rents, the highest share in the EU. [German Civil Code, §573](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__573.html): a landlord can only end a lease with a legitimate interest, and never to raise the rent. - [Netherlands](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2024/06/07/wet-vaste-huurcontracten-vanaf-1-juli-2024-van-kracht): since 1 July 2024, open-ended leases are the norm again, under a [private members’ bill](https://www.eerstekamer.nl/wetsvoorstel/36195_initiatiefvoorstel_nijboer?df2=han) passed in 2023. [Scotland](https://www.gov.scot/publications/private-residential-tenancies-tenants-guide/pages/overview/): since December 2017, leases are open-ended and a landlord can only end one on one of 18 grounds set out in law. - [England](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/when-will-the-renters-right-act-come-into-force): the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 ended no-fault evictions on 1 May 2026, a measure [announced by Theresa May’s government in 2019](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-end-to-unfair-evictions). [Ireland](https://rtb.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/New-Rental-Rules-Tenant-Overview.pdf): since 1 March 2026, new leases run in six-year cycles, and landlords with four or more homes can’t end them without a reason. - [Spain, Urban Leases Act, article 9](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1994-26003): minimum term of five years, seven if the landlord is a company. [France, 1989 law, article 10](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000000509310): three years, six if the landlord is a company. - [Vásquez-Vera et al. (2017)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.01.010), *Social Science & Medicine*: in a review of 47 studies, the threat of eviction is associated with worse mental and physical health. [Simsek et al. (2021)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102650), *Health & Place*: a meta-analysis of 64 studies finds a negative association between moving home in childhood and health, stronger the more moves there are. 02 ## An end to demolitions and evictions without somewhere to go In July 2025, Loures council demolished 55 makeshift homes in the Talude Militar neighbourhood with no alternative housing for the people living there. Families slept in tents and in a church, a court suspended the demolitions and the public prosecutor opened an inquiry. At the end of 2024, 14,476 people were homeless in mainland Portugal, 10% more than a year earlier. We are not asking for illegal buildings to be legalised or for evictions to stop: we are asking that nobody ends up on the street because of them. Seixal showed it can be done, rehousing the families of Bairro da Jamaica before demolishing it. Measures - No demolition of lived-in homes without a suitable housing solution for each family, agreed before the demolition. - Extend to all evictions, public and private, the rule the Housing Framework Law already applies to evictions by the State and councils: no vulnerable person is left without somewhere to go. The cost falls on the State, not the landlord, who receives the missing rent, as in France. - A winter truce, as in France, where lived-in homes are not evicted between 1 November and 31 March unless the occupants are rehoused. - An up-to-date survey of households in housing need, including people who arrived after the old surveys, as the Ombudsman recommended in 2016, with deadlines and a budget to rehouse them. Objections and answers ### This protects illegal building and squatting. No. The law still allows anyone illegally occupying a home to be evicted, and illegal buildings can be demolished. What we ask is what the Housing Framework Law, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the European Court of Human Rights already say: an eviction must not leave people homeless and must be proportionate. In Bairro da Jamaica, Seixal rehoused all 241 families and demolished the buildings as they were emptied. Both are possible. ### Who pays? And isn’t it unfair to jump ahead of people waiting for a home? Households in housing need are already entitled to support by law (Decree-Law 89/2021), and there is funding in the 1.º Direito programme, from the EU recovery plan and the State Budget. Leaving people on the street costs money too: research shows more hospital visits, more shelter use and lower earnings after an eviction. Nobody jumps the queue: rehousing follows the need criteria already set out in law, and the survey we propose includes those already waiting. ### Private landlords shouldn’t have to act as the welfare state. We agree. That’s why the cost of alternatives falls on the State: if an eviction is postponed for lack of an alternative, the State pays the landlord the missing rent. France has done this for a century, and its Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures says that the State’s refusal to carry out an eviction entitles the landlord to compensation. What the research and data show - [Housing Framework Law (Law 83/2019), article 13(4)](https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/lei/83-2019-124392055): “The State, the autonomous regions and local authorities may not carry out the administrative eviction of vulnerable individuals or families without first guaranteeing rehousing solutions.” For private evictions, the law only guarantees information, legal help and priority support (paragraphs 6 and 7). - [Decree-Law 89/2021](https://www.aiccopn.pt/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/0001500022.pdf): public bodies must support households in housing need and refer them to public housing or the local housing strategy. - [UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 7 (1997), §16](https://emergency.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2023-12/General%20Comment%20No.%207%20-%20The%20right%20to%20adequate%20housing%20%28Art.11.1%29%20-%20forced%20evictions.pdf): evictions should not result in people being rendered homeless. Portugal ratified the Covenant in 1978 and [its Optional Protocol](https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-3-a&chapter=4&clang=_en), which allows individual complaints, in 2013. - [European Committee of Social Rights (2011), ERRC v. Portugal](https://www.escr-net.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/ERRC-v.-Portugal-decision.pdf): unanimously found Portugal in breach over the housing conditions of Roma communities, under article 31 of the Revised European Social Charter, which Portugal accepted in 2002. - [European Court of Human Rights, Yordanova v. Bulgaria (2012)](https://strasbourgobservers.com/2012/05/08/roma-evictions-stopped-in-strasbourg-yordanova-e-a-v-bulgaria/) and Winterstein v. France (2013): evicting a settlement without assessing proportionality and the families’ situation breaches the right to respect for one’s home. - [RTP (2025)](https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/pais/providencia-cautelar-trava-demolicoes-no-bairro-do-talude-militar_n1669214): a court suspended the demolitions in the Talude Militar neighbourhood in Loures, where 55 homes were demolished [with no alternative housing](https://observador.pt/2025/07/16/ex-secretario-de-estado-do-ps-das-autarquias-locais-condena-desumanidade-em-loures/). [The Attorney General’s Office opened an inquiry](https://eco.sapo.pt/2025/07/16/pgr-confirma-abertura-de-inquerito-sobre-demolicoes-no-bairro-do-talude-militar/). - [ENIPSSA, via Lusa (2025)](https://www.dnoticias.pt/2025/12/18/474382-numero-de-sem-abrigo-voltou-a-aumentar-no-ano-passado-e-chegou-a-14476/): 14,476 homeless people in mainland Portugal at the end of 2024, against 13,128 a year earlier. - [Ombudsman, recommendation 3/B/2016](https://www.provedor-jus.pt/documentos/Rec_3B2016.pdf): called for the law on the Special Rehousing Programme to be revised, because the 1993 survey left out people who arrived later. [Lusa (2023)](https://www.cmjornal.pt/sociedade/detalhe/lisboa-acabou-com-mar-de-favelas-e-construiu-36-bairros-no-ambito-do-per): through the programme, Lisbon rehoused 8,595 families in 36 neighbourhoods built for the purpose. - [Collinson et al. (2024)](https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjad042), *Quarterly Journal of Economics*: in New York and the Chicago area, an eviction increased emergency shelter use, hospital visits (up 29% in the first year) and debt, and cut earnings by 14% in the second year. - [At Home/Chez Soi (Canada)](https://mentalhealthcommission.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/At2520Home2520Final2520Report2520-2520Main2520Messages2520-2520ENG_0.pdf), a trial with more than 2,000 people: with Housing First, 62% were housed all the time in the last six months, against 31%. In the highest-need group, every 10 dollars spent saved 9.60 in other services. - [French Council of State (2022)](https://www.conseil-etat.fr/fr/arianeweb/CE/decision/2022-11-29/443396): the State’s refusal to carry out an eviction entitles the landlord to compensation (article L153-1 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures). [Between 1 November and 31 March](https://www.anil.org/aj-expulsion-modalites-reparation-refus-concours-force-publique/) there are no evictions. 03 ## A brake on investment funds buying up homes When a fund buys a lived-in building, it adds no homes: the owner changes, and often the rent too. In Ireland, the central bank found that institutional investors who bought homes already being rented raised rents 4.1 percentage points more than other landlords. In Portugal, rental income and capital gains of property funds are left out of their taxable profit, and a May 2026 decree-law gave new tax breaks to buyers of buildings to rent out, including existing buildings. The Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland have already curbed this kind of buying, each in its own way. Measures - In urban-pressure zones, existing homes below a certain value can only be bought to live in for a limited period, as in the Netherlands since 2022, with an exception for letting at affordable rents. New construction and the renovation of empty buildings are exempt. - Anyone buying a lived-in building can’t use works to raise rents for five years after the purchase, as in Denmark since 2020. - End the exclusion of housing rents and capital gains from the taxable profit of funds and listed property companies (SIGIs), and exclude the purchase of lived-in buildings from the new 2026 tax breaks. - Use the pre-emption right the Housing Framework Law and Decree-Law 89/2021 already give councils and the State in home sales in urban-pressure zones, especially of whole buildings, and publish how often it is used. And a higher tax on bulk purchases, as in Ireland. Objections and answers ### Funds bring investment and build homes. That’s why the proposal leaves new construction, build-to-rent and the renovation of empty buildings alone: it curbs the purchase of homes that already exist, which changes the owner but adds no homes. The research points both ways. In the US (Coven, 2024), when large investors bought houses to rent out, rents fell, but prices rose and fewer families owned their home. In Ireland, where they bought homes that were already rented, rents rose more than with other landlords. That’s why the rule exempts letting at affordable rents and comes with more public housing ([see proposal 4](#exigencia-4)). ### Funds are a small part of the market. In 2025, households bought 87.5% of the homes sold in Portugal; companies, funds and other bodies bought the rest, about 21,000. But the effect is concentrated where they buy whole buildings: in Ireland, institutional investors held about 4% of the homes studied, and it still showed in rents. In the Netherlands, the rule we propose cut investor purchases in Rotterdam by 73%, and first-time buyers took their place. ### This goes against property rights and EU rules. The EU Court of Justice accepted in 2013 (the Libert case) that housing needs can justify limits on the free movement of capital, as long as the rules are proportionate and don’t discriminate. The Dutch rule applies to all buyers equally, the Danish one has been in force since 2020, and councils’ pre-emption right already exists in Portuguese law. What the research and data show - [Central Bank of Ireland, McCarthy (2024)](https://www.suerf.org/publications/suerf-policy-notes-and-briefs/institutional-investment-and-residential-rental-market-dynamics/): after buying homes that were already rented, institutional investors raised rents 4.1 percentage points more than other landlords with comparable homes, about €78 a month. The author notes the cause could be market power or better service. - [Raymond et al. (2016)](https://fedinprint.org/item/fedacd/36235), Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: large corporate landlords were 8% more likely to file for eviction than small landlords, after controlling for other differences. - [Gurun et al. (2023)](https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhac017), *Review of Financial Studies*: when large landlords merge, rents rise in neighbourhoods where both owned homes, but crime falls. [Coven (2024)](https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/events/2024/housing-demand-workshop/7c_InstitutionInvestors_Coven), working paper: in the US, purchases by large investors increased rental supply and lowered rents. We cite both sides. - [Erasmus University Rotterdam (2025)](https://www.eur.nl/nieuws/opkoopbescherming-stimuleert-woningbezit-huizenprijzen-blijven-stabiel): the Dutch rule cut investor purchases in the areas covered by 73%, with no fall in prices; the authors warn it may make access harder for lower-income renters, which is why we pair it with more public housing. [Amsterdam (2022)](https://openresearch.amsterdam/image/2024/1/4/monitor_opkoopbescherming_2022.pdf): the share of homes bought by landlords fell from 18% to 6%. - [Denmark, Act 818 of 2020](https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2020/818): after a change of owner, rents can only rise for modernisation works after five years. - [Ireland](https://www.legal500.com/intelligence/ireland/real-estate-and-construction/increase-in-stamp-duty-rates-on-certain-property-transactions): anyone buying 10 or more houses within 12 months pays 15% stamp duty, since October 2024 (10% from 2021 to 2024). - [Tax Benefits Statute, article 22](https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/codigos_tributarios/bf_rep/Pages/ebf-artigo-22-ordm.aspx): rental income and capital gains of property funds are excluded from their taxable profit; funds pay a stamp duty of 0.0125% a quarter on their value. [Decree-Law 97/2026](https://www.ey.com/content/dam/ey-unified-site/ey-com/pt-pt/services/tax/documents/ey-tax-alert-construir-portugal-dl-final.pdf): exemption from property transfer tax and stamp duty on buying buildings to rent out, including existing ones, and a right to compensation if the rent rules change. - [INE, via Lusa (2026)](https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/economia/2960456/precos-da-habitacao-com-aumento-recorde-de-17-6-em-2025): 169,812 homes were sold in 2025, 87.5% of them bought by households. - [Decree-Law 89/2021](https://www.plmj.com/xms/files/03_Novidades_legislativas/2021/11_novembro/NI_Regulamentacao_da_Lei_de_Bases_da_Habitacao.pdf): councils, the autonomous regions and the State have a pre-emption right on home sales in urban-pressure zones. [EU Court of Justice, Libert (2013)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/PT/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62011CJ0197): housing needs can justify restrictions, if they are proportionate and non-discriminatory. 04 ## More public housing Social housing is less than 2% of homes in Portugal, against an OECD average of 7% and more than 20% in Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands. With so little of it, people on low incomes depend entirely on the market, and in Porto the wait for a public home is over three years. In 2025, 27.2% of people paying market rent spent more than 40% of their income on housing; among those paying reduced rent, just 2.8%. The EU recovery plan gave a boost, but it is ending, and the OECD says investment will need to keep growing. Measures - A long-term public programme to build and renovate homes, with guaranteed multi-year funding after the EU recovery plan, using the European Investment Bank loan and the new EU rules that, since December 2025, allow support for affordable housing without prior notification to the Commission. - Mixed-income neighbourhoods, open to the middle class too, as in Vienna, instead of large estates only for people on the lowest incomes. - Rents that cover costs rather than profit, and a national fund fed by the rents of homes whose loans are paid off, which funds new homes, like Denmark’s Landsbyggefonden since 1967. - Housing cooperatives on public land that is leased, not sold, and a public, verifiable list of the homes delivered, with dates. Objections and answers ### Public housing creates ghettos. It depends on the model. Large estates only for the poor, like some in the US, had bad results, and a study shows that children who moved out of them later had more employment and higher earnings. That’s why we propose the Vienna model: in 2026, a single person earning up to €61,280 net a year is eligible, which mixes incomes. There, about 824,000 people live in municipal or non-profit housing. ### It’s expensive, and the State can’t build. A public home isn’t money down the drain: it’s an asset that stays, and the rents pay back part of the investment. In Denmark, the rents of homes already paid off fund new ones. The government has announced 31,700 homes completed under the EU recovery plan; since there is no independent count of how many have been handed over to families, we ask for a public list. And European funding exists: the European Investment Bank approved €1.34 billion for about 12,000 affordable rental homes in Portugal. ### Public housing crowds out private building. A US study (Eriksen and Rosenthal, 2010) finds that effect for homes built by private developers with tax credits, with a wide margin of uncertainty. But Portugal has the opposite problem: around 45,000 homes are needed a year and, over the last decade, about 15,000 a year were built. In Vienna, neighbourhoods with more non-profit housing saw private rents rise more slowly. What the research and data show - [OECD Affordable Housing Database](https://webfs.oecd.org/Els-com/Affordable_Housing_Database/PH4-2-Social-rental-housing-stock.pdf): social housing averages 7% of homes across the OECD and more than 20% in Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands; in Portugal, less than 2%. - [OECD (2026)](https://oecdecoscope.blog/2026/01/06/making-housing-more-affordable-in-portugal/): Portugal has “one of the smallest social housing stocks of the OECD”; in Porto, waiting lists exceed three years; investment is increasing, but “further expansion will be needed”. - [Eurostat (2025)](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ilc_lvho07c/default/table): 27.2% of people renting at market prices in Portugal spend more than 40% of their income on housing (18.6% in the EU); among those paying reduced rent, 2.8%. - [City of Vienna](https://www.wien.gv.at/spezial/integrationsmonitor/wohnen/verteilung-der-bevolkerung-in-den-segmenten-des-wohnungsmarktes/): 430,101 people live in municipal housing and 394,409 in non-profit housing; [the 2026 income ceiling](https://wohnberatung-wien.at/fileadmin/wohnberatung/downloads/formulare/Aufnahmeblatt_2026.pdf) is €61,280 net a year for a single person. [Banabak (2022)](https://doi.org/10.1080/12265934.2022.2110144): neighbourhoods with more non-profit housing see private rents rise more slowly. - [City of Zurich (2024)](https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/de/aktuell/medienmitteilungen/2024/11/anstieg-der-mietpreise-seit-2022.html): a non-profit two-bedroom flat costs on average 1,022 francs a month, against 1,875 on the market. - [Housing 2030 (UNECE, UN-Habitat and Housing Europe)](https://www.housing2030.org/?p=2161): in Denmark, once an estate’s loan is paid off, tenants keep paying the same rent and the surplus goes to the national fund, which pays for new homes and renovation. - [Fenelon et al. (2017)](https://ideas.repec.org/a/aph/ajpbhl/10.2105-ajph.2016.303649_5.html), *American Journal of Public Health*: living in public housing is associated with better health and less psychological distress, compared with people still waiting for it. - [Diamond and McQuade (2019)](https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jpolec/doi10.1086-701354.html), *Journal of Political Economy*: in low-income US neighbourhoods, new affordable housing raised surrounding home values by 6.5% and lowered crime. [Chyn (2018)](https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aecrev/v108y2018i10p3028-56.html), *American Economic Review*: children who moved out of high-poverty public housing in Chicago later had more employment and higher earnings, which is why we propose mixed neighbourhoods. - [Eriksen and Rosenthal (2010)](https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pubeco/v94y2010i11-12p953-966.html), *Journal of Public Economics*: in the US, affordable housing built with tax credits largely displaced private construction. We cite it because it is the main objection. - [Government, via Sábado (2026)](https://www.sabado.pt/dinheiro/amp/concluidas-31-700-casas-publicas-ao-abrigo-do-prr): 31,700 public homes completed under the EU recovery plan, according to the government. [European Investment Bank (2025)](https://www.eib.org/de/press/all/2025-338-portugal-and-the-eib-approve-eur1-34-billion-framework-loan-for-affordable-housing): €1.34 billion for about 12,000 affordable rental homes. [European Commission (2025)](https://housing.ec.europa.eu/european-affordable-housing-plan_en): European Affordable Housing Plan. - [AICCOPN (2024)](https://www.aiccopn.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PI_17abril2024.pdf): around 45,000 homes are needed a year; over the last decade, about 15,000 a year were built. 05 ## A public drive to bring empty buildings back into use as homes The 2021 Census counted 723,215 empty homes, 12.1% of the total. More than half, about 375,000, were neither for sale nor for rent, almost 90,000 of them in the Lisbon metropolitan area. Many are in the interior or in ruins, but even a small share of those in the cities would make a difference. And the State itself has empty homes: in 2022, 717 vacant public properties suitable for housing were identified, and the State is still selling some of them. Measures - A public annual inventory of empty buildings owned by the State and councils, as a 2020 decree-law already provided for, and an end to selling those suitable for housing: they become public or cooperative housing. - Help with renovation for owners who let empty homes at affordable rents, like the Irish grant, and teams that support owners, as in Scotland. - Leasing by the State and councils to sublet, but paying only for homes that are occupied. - In pressure zones, actually apply the higher property tax on vacant buildings, with the tax authority identifying them from water and electricity use. For buildings left empty and run-down for many years, the compulsory works and forced letting that the urban renewal regime already provides for, always with prior notice and compensation. Objections and answers ### Most empty homes are in the interior or in ruins. It’s true that there are more empty homes in the interior (17.4% in Alto Alentejo and Médio Tejo) and that many need work. That’s why the proposal focuses on urban-pressure zones and starts with public buildings and homes that need little work. Even so, in the Lisbon metropolitan area alone, almost 90,000 empty homes were off the market. And renovating emits less carbon than demolishing and building new. ### Forcing owners to let is an attack on private property. The proposal starts with voluntary agreements and help with renovation. Compulsory tools are kept for buildings left empty and run-down for many years, with prior notice and compensation, and have existed in Portuguese law since 2009, in the urban renewal regime. The Constitution protects property, but also the right to housing (article 65). In Denmark, in the municipalities covered, a home left empty for more than six weeks must be reported to the council, which can assign a tenant. ### It’s been tried and it didn’t work. Portugal’s voluntary programmes had little take-up: Porto com Sentido reached 229 homes in five years, and the national sublet scheme paid rent on homes that stayed almost all empty. We have learned from that: pay only for occupied homes, add money for renovation and give owners real guarantees. Where that was done, it worked: in Ireland, the renovation grant brought 3,066 homes back into use in 2025, and in Scotland, empty homes officers helped bring back 2,066 in a year. In France, the tax on empty homes cut their number by 13%. What the research and data show - [INE and LNEC, via Lusa (2024)](https://www.barlavento.pt/?p=347089): 723,215 empty homes in the 2021 Census, 12.1% of the total; the share is highest in Alto Alentejo and Médio Tejo (17.4%). [Observador, with INE data](https://observador.pt/especiais/falta-de-oferta-de-habitacao-portugal-tem-723-mil-casas-vazias-mais-de-150-mil-so-na-zona-de-lisboa/): 375,118 empty for reasons other than sale or rent, 89,728 of them in the Lisbon metropolitan area. - [ECO (2022)](https://eco.sapo.pt/2022/03/17/estado-tem-717-imoveis-inativos-ou-devolutos/): a government order identified 717 inactive or vacant State properties suitable for housing. [Observador (2026)](https://observador.pt/2026/04/13/ps-quer-travar-venda-de-imoveis-do-estado-com-aptidao-habitacional/): the State is still selling properties suitable for housing. - [Lusa (2024)](https://www.barlavento.pt/?p=346516): for the 2023 property tax, only 64 councils reported vacant buildings, 12,776 in all. [Decree-Law 159/2006](https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/legislacao/diplomas_legislativos/Documents/Decreto-Lei_159-2006.pdf): a property is vacant if it has been unoccupied for a year, shown for example by no water or electricity use. - [Urban Renewal Legal Regime (Decree-Law 307/2009)](https://vlex.pt/vid/decreto-lei-n-307-1034386248): already provides for compulsory works (article 55), forced letting (article 59) and forced sale (article 62). [The government repealed in 2024](https://portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc24/comunicacao/noticias/governo-revoga-o-arrendamento-forcado) the forced letting of vacant homes introduced in 2023. - [DN (2025)](https://www.dn.pt/sociedade/programa-arrendar-para-subarrendar-estado-paga-milhões-e-80-das-casas-estão-vazias): under the national sublet scheme, the State leased 290 homes and only 62 were occupied, after paying €2.8 million in rent in 2024. [DN (2024)](https://www.dn.pt/sociedade/senhorios-so-arrendaram-229-casas-a-camara-do-porto-em-cinco-anos): Porto com Sentido secured 229 homes in five years. - [Government of Ireland (2026)](https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/press-releases/over-3000-vacant-or-derelict-homes-brought-back-into-use-in-2025-through-vacant-property-refurbishment-grant): the vacant property refurbishment grant brought 3,066 homes back into use in 2025. [Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (2025)](https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/record-breaking-number-of-empty-homes-brought-back-into-use): 2,066 empty homes brought back into use in 2024–25, a record. - [Segú (2020)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2019.104079), *Journal of Public Economics*: France’s tax on empty homes cut their number by 13%, and most became permanent residences. - [Denmark, 2022 Housing Act, §5](https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2022/342/pdf): in the municipalities covered, a home left empty for more than six weeks must be reported, and the council can assign a tenant. - [Huuhka et al. (2023)](https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.309), *Buildings & Cities*: in the three cases studied, keeping and renovating buildings emitted less carbon than demolishing and building new. 06 ## Rent caps that are truly affordable Since 1 September 2026, tax-exempt “affordable” rent has been set at 80% of the municipality’s median rent, with no link at all to the income of the people who will live there. In Lisbon, the cap for a two-bedroom flat is €1,309 a month, more than a whole minimum wage (€920). A cap that is just a discount on the market rises with the market. In 2025, 27.2% of people renting at market prices in Portugal spent more than 40% of their income on housing, against 18.6% across the EU. Measures - In programmes with public money or tax breaks, rents tied to income: at most 30% of household income, within the limits Portuguese law already used in the Affordable Rent Programme (an effort rate between 15% and 35%), and caps for each area that also take local wages into account. - Reference rents for each area, calculated from public data using scientific methods, like the German Mietspiegel, and annual increases on existing leases tied to inflation, as Portugal already does. - In the areas under most pressure, starting rents on new leases at most 10% above the reference rent, as in Germany, with new and fully renovated homes exempt. Until then, keep the current cap on rises in new leases for homes that were already let. - Tax breaks only for landlords who keep to these caps, and enforcement using the lease data already reported to the tax authority. Objections and answers ### Rent control reduces the number of homes for rent. A rigid freeze can: in San Francisco, the landlords affected took 15% of their homes off the rental market, and in Ireland and Catalonia there are signs of less construction or fewer listings after the caps. That’s why the model we propose is different: it doesn’t freeze rents, it ties them to a reference that follows the market and inflation, and it exempts new homes, as Germany has done since 2015. The published study of Catalonia’s 2020 cap found rents 4% to 6% lower with no fall in supply. And it comes with more public housing ([see proposal 4](#exigencia-4)) and empty homes back in use ([see proposal 5](#exigencia-5)), so supply grows. ### It’s better to give families help with rent. Without regulation, much of that help ends up in the rent: in France, 78 cents of every extra euro of housing benefit went into the rent; in the UK, when housing benefit was cut, between 60% and two-thirds of the cut fell on landlords. Help is needed, but it works best alongside rent caps. ### A cap at 30% of income is arbitrary. It is a convention, used in the US since 1981, which is why we propose caps based on each area’s real incomes. But it isn’t foreign to Portugal: supported rent (renda apoiada) can’t exceed 23% of income, and the old Affordable Rent Programme required an effort rate between 15% and 35%. What makes no sense is calling a rent affordable when it is higher than a minimum wage. What the research and data show - [Decree-Law 97/2026](https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/legislacao/diplomas_legislativos/Documents/decreto-lei-97-2026.pdf): since 1 September 2026, the maximum rent under the new affordable rent regime starts from 80% of the municipality’s median rent, with no income condition and with income tax exemption for the landlord. [Order 454/2026/1](https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/legislacao/diplomas_legislativos/Documents/portaria-454-2026-1.pdf): in Lisbon, the cap is €1,006 for a one-bedroom flat and €1,309 for a two-bedroom; in Porto, €866 and €1,118. - [Decree-Law 139/2025](https://www.garrigues.com/pt/pt-PT/news/aumento-da-remuneracao-minima-mensal-garantida-2026): the minimum wage is €920 gross a month in 2026. [INE, via Lusa (2026)](https://www.dnoticias.pt/2026/9/29/507178-rendas-sobem-68-na-madeira-apesar-da-quebra-de-novos-contratos/): in the second quarter of 2026, the median rent on new leases was €17.79/m² in Lisbon and €10.17/m² nationally. - [Eurostat (2025)](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ilc_lvho07c/default/table): 27.2% of tenants paying market rent in Portugal spend more than 40% of their income on housing; across the EU, 18.6%. - [Decree-Law 68/2019](https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/legislacao/diplomas_legislativos/Documents/Decreto_Lei_68_2019.pdf): the old Affordable Rent Programme required an effort rate between 15% and 35%. [Law 32/2016](https://www.cm-castelobranco.pt/media/2086/lei-nº-322016.pdf): under supported rent, the rent can’t exceed 23% of income. - [German Civil Code, §556d](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__556d.html) and [§556f](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__556f.html): in areas under most pressure, starting rents can be at most 10% above the reference rent, until the end of 2029; homes first let after October 2014 are exempt. [Breidenbach et al. (2022)](https://www.rwi-essen.de/en/rwi/team/person/publications/detail/temporal-dynamics-of-rent-regulations-the-case-4664), *Regional Science and Urban Economics*: the rule held rents back by up to 5%, but the effect faded after about a year, which is why we pair it with reference rents and enforcement. - [Jofre-Monseny, Martínez-Mazza and Segú (2023)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2023.103916), *Regional Science and Urban Economics*: Catalonia’s 2020 law lowered rents by 4% to 6%, with no fall in supply. [Monràs and García-Montalvo (2023)](https://doi.org/10.24148/wp2023-28), in a working paper, find homes leaving the top end of the market. [Fedea (2026)](https://documentos.fedea.net/pubs/ap/2026/ap2026-15.pdf), in a descriptive study: after the 2024 caps, rental listings fell 22% in Barcelona. - [Diamond, McQuade and Qian (2019)](https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20181289), *American Economic Review*: in San Francisco, rigid rent control with no exemption for new homes protected sitting tenants, but the landlords affected cut the supply of rental housing by 15%. [ESRI (2025)](https://esri.ie/publications/exploring-rent-pressure-zones-irelands-recent-rent-control-regime): in Ireland, rent pressure zones slowed rent rises, but coincided with a fall in new supply. - [Dutch government (2024)](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2024/02/06/wetsvoorstel-betaalbare-huur-naar-tweede-kamer): extending the points system to mid-market rents was expected to lower rents on more than 300,000 homes, by €190 a month on average. [NOS (2026)](https://nos.nl/l/2604048): in 2025, investors sold more than 65,000 rented homes; the official evaluation is due in 2027. - [Fack (2006)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2006.01.001), *Labour Economics*: in France, each extra euro of housing benefit raised the rent paid by new claimants by 78 cents. [Gibbons and Manning (2006)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2005.01.002), *Journal of Public Economics*: in the UK, between 60% and two-thirds of a cut in housing benefit fell on landlords. - [Kholodilin (2024)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhe.2024.101983), *Journal of Housing Economics*: a review of almost all the research finds that rent control slows rises in the homes it covers but has side effects, which is why we propose it with new homes exempt and more public supply. ## Housing is a right. Let’s make sure it’s honoured. Join the people getting organised in buildings, neighbourhoods and workplaces all over Portugal. [Take part](https://habitacao-alt.bytetoit.com/en/take-part/) · [Get in touch](mailto:direito.habitacao@proton.me)