The issue of housing seems to have gained importance in the political context in recent years: in 2017 there was a Secretary of State for Housing and now, since the beginning of the year, there is a Ministry of Housing, with Marina Gonçalves overseeing the portfolio. With house prices on the rise and the rental market needing to be boosted, increasing supply, namely at prices accessible to most Portuguese people, Prime Minister António Costa is keen to put the ball in the court of the new minister, emphasising that she has three months to find solutions.

According to Expresso, António Costa put has put considerable pressure on the new minister, urging her to find “new instruments”, even if they are “transitory”, to solve the housing problem for the new generations.

"In the next three months we must have new instruments to implement the housing policy", said the head of government, noting that "the country had years without having a housing policy". It was considered that between the credit market and the rental market the problem would solve itself. But the market does not solve the housing problem in any country, because it is a scarce commodity and the market does not have adequate answers for that”, he said.

New generation

António Costa reiterated the need for the country to “have a new generation of housing policies” and listed some of the steps that have been taken in this direction, such as the creation of the Basic Housing Law, in 2019, and policies such as the 1st Right , for the most vulnerable families, and Affordable Lease, for the middle class. “(…) We have PRR resources in the order of 2,700 million euros dedicated exclusively to housing, but we must not only accelerate what is planned, but also create new instruments”, he added.

According to Expresso, which cites the Ministry of Housing, the Prime Minister's statement was made without these "mechanisms" and "new instruments" having been outlined from the outset. Also because the Ministry of Housing took office just two weeks ago and the existing programs are the ones that are in progress.


Related articles: