A decree-law, approved on Thursday by the Council of Ministers, changes the Legal Regime of Territorial Management Instruments (RJIGT), exceptionally enabling councils and municipal assemblies to create new housing areas on land compatible with the urban area.

The process simplifies the availability of land, as this decision will depend solely on city halls and municipal assemblies, without the need for approval by other bodies.

However, at least 70% of these houses will have to be sold at “moderate prices”, resulting from the national median and the local median, because they are intended to increase the housing supply for the middle class, the government highlighted in a statement.

“This measure will increase housing construction in all municipalities, ensuring that homes are affordable for middle-class families and, at the same time, profitable for companies in the real estate sector. The lack of land has been one of the main causes of the high cost of housing”, considered Manuel Castro Almeida, Deputy Minister of Territorial Cohesion, cited in the statement.

City halls continue to have to respect the specificities defined for national agricultural and ecological reserves.

For example, construction remains prohibited “on units of land with high suitability for agricultural use, under the terms of the National Agricultural Reserve”.

“As for the National Ecological Reserve, the fundamental natural values ​​and functions continue to be protected, as well as the risks to people and property”, is highlighted in the approved diploma.

Also mentioned in the statement, the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, considered that the measure “will promote greater social equity by allowing more housing construction and, consequently”, increasing the supply of affordable homes.

Pinto Luz highlighted that “solving the country’s housing problem is a national urgency” and assured that the Government “is committed to implementing the measures of the Construir Portugal program” so that everyone has “access to decent housing”.