The Government wants to reach 300 thousand houses for rent by 2026

The Government wants to reach 300 thousand houses for rent by 2026, but Fernando Santo, president of the CIP Real Estate Construction Council, considers it “impossible”, although it is a “great ambition”.

With this National Housing Plan, the Government wants to help lower housing prices by stimulating rental, injecting more supply into the market. This Government measure foresees to regulate the market and allow all families to have a house.

For Fernando Santo, reaching the 50% goal in 2026 “wouldn’t be bad” if one takes into account the “State’s promotion, the rehabilitation of the State’s properties and the private investors that can invest in renting with public support”.

The cost of construction “is completely out of line with family incomes. Fernando Santo points to the “lack of production” as the reason: “Between 1991 and 2011 we produced an average of 84 thousand houses, in the last ten years there were 12.200”.

The lack of work led to the emigration of engineers and foremen and to early retirements, which are now reflected in the lack of labor. The Confederation of Construction says that there are more than 80,000 qualified professionals that Portugal once had and that are now non-existent.

The National Housing Plan proposed by the Government may solve some housing problems “if there is a change in policy, if there is an understanding of what is needed for this to happen”, for example, “starting with allotted land, which does not exist and projects that do not exist”.

Fernando Santo argues, still, that it will be the political will to dictate whether or not the objectives are met.

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