The Dysfunctional Rental Market in Portugal: A Policy Review

Abstract

In Portugal, due to the rental market’s inability to respond to the constant mismatch between supply and demand over the course of decades, things have become increasingly residual and dysfunctional within the scope of the homeownership market. Through analysis of various laws and legislative changes over the last century, as well as the participant observation acquired by the author’s two-and-a-half years of experience as a stakeholder in the sector, this paper aims to review rental policies in Portugal and the multiple impacts they have had on reproducing various weaknesses in the rental market. The paper concludes with some policy recommendations that advocate how government action is decisive in shaping housing and rental policy, establishing a legal and regulatory framework able to transmit credibility, stability and security to the contractual forms between supply and demand, in keeping with an effective right to housing through affordable renting.

Who Are the Young Adults in Portugal? Daily Usage of Social Media and Mobile Phones, in a No-Kids and No-Independent Housing Context—Results from a Representative Online Survey

“…Consequently, and since most students of the sample are pursuing a university degree, our data suggests that enrolling on a university degree does not translate to independent housing. In fact, it seems that independent housing, particularly reinforced by the current context of the housing crisis [43] is not a trend for students, who tend to be financially dependent young adults. Therefore, in the context of Portugal, it is not possible to connect legal adulthood (18 years old) to living independently-likewise in the cases of studies [40] or [41].…”

“…These results may suggest that only by achieving such high levels of education may young adults find themselves in a situation of financial stability that allows them to move from their family's home. Therefore, partially justifying the reinforcement of the housing problems at the core of political debate in Portugal, that has even originated social movements, at least since late 2016 [43]. In fact, the results situate the housing scenario of Portuguese young adults in the same perspective as other international contexts, where there is an inability to purchase housing, placing these young adults in a scenario where renting is the only possibility of independent housing, which can be called "generation rent" [42].…”

“…Today, the housing crisis materialises a highly complex problem [42], which includes the lack of independence of young adults. In the specific context of Portugal, market deregulation has already exacerbated the trend towards increasing difficulties in finding housing, in part due to a lack of state policies, creating a dysfunctional reality that excludes young adults from home-buying and worsens the access to home renting [43].…”

Urban Regeneration, Rent Regulation and the Private Rental Sector in Portugal: A Case Study on Inner-City Lisbon’s Social Sustainability

“…Rent control was first introduced in Portugal in 1910 and since then has been used both to control the initial rent that landlords can charge and any subsequent increases [33]. The main rent freezes occurred in 1948 in the cities of Lisbon and Porto and were extended in 1974 to the whole country [34], a context of national and international economic crisis. In the 1980s, several timid initiatives were established to restore the normal operation of the rental market.…”

A resposta do Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência às situações de indignidade habitacional: um olhar sobre as estratégias locais de habitação traçadas e as oportunidades em aberto.

“…Nas últimas décadas, a ação pública ao nível da habitação assumiu em Portugal um caráter pontualcingida aos grupos mais vulneráveis e geralmente ao universo das áreas metropolitanas (ver, e.g.,Guerra, 1999; Cachado, 2013) ou funcionou como alavanca à crescente financeirização do setorpor via do apoio ao acesso a empréstimos bonificados para compra de casa própria e, mais recentemente, ao investimento estrangeiro (ver, e.g.,Santos, Teles & Serra, 2014). Esta aposta continuada refletiu-se num forte aumento do parque habitacional privado e num crescente desequilíbrio do mercado imobiliário, ao qual uma parte cada vez maior da população não consegue aceder(Santos, 2018(Santos, , 2020Travasso et al, 2020;Mendes, 2022). Se, em 1950, 71% das habitações 1 Considerou-se a lista de municípios divulgada a 11 de março de 2022 pelo Governo(República Portuguesa, 2022).…”