The government is rolling out medium- and long-term housing measures, dramatically expanding public housing investment to over €9.2 billion in under two years, with a goal to deliver about 150,000 housing solutions by 2030 through Local Housing Strategies, a Public Housing Park at Affordable Costs, and Public-Private Partnerships.

Reuters attributes the data to official statistics and the property data provider Confidencial Imobiliario.

Funding for the program will come from a mix of EU recovery funds, the national budget, and loans secured via the European Investment Bank, according to Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz.

Officials expect the new tax incentives to eventually bring as many as 300,000 vacant homes back into the rental market in the medium term and to spur further measures to promote housing construction.

The housing crisis is driven by a long-standing shortage of affordable stock, intensified by demand from overseas investors and affluent foreign buyers, with Lisbon singled out as a hotspot for surging prices and rents over the past decade.

Public housing currently accounts for about 2% of Portugal’s six-million-unit stock, among the lowest levels in Europe and well below countries like Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands where social housing exceeds 20% to 30%.

Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz says scaling public housing is essential to address the crisis and that ambitious targets are necessary.

Portugal plans a dramatic expansion to build 150,000 new public homes by 2030, up from an initial target of around 59,000, with fast-tracking of the program.

The €9 billion initiative is designed to help low-income households grappling with high property prices and rents.

In addition to public builds, the plan includes fiscal incentives to boost private participation, notably reducing landlords’ income tax on rental earnings from 25% to 10% for rents below €2,300 per month.

Total investment amounts to about €9 billion, funded primarily by EU recovery funds, the state budget, and European Investment Bank loans.