Lisbon, April 1, 2026 (Lusa) – Portugal's housing crisis results from a "combination of factors" such as a shortage of social housing, rising tourism, and speculative investment, the chair of the European Parliament's HOUS (Housing Crisis in the European Union) committee said on Wednesday.
Irene Tinagli spoke at a press conference following a two-and-a-half-day visit to Portugal by a delegation from the Special Committee on the HOUS. She highlighted that while housing access difficulties affect all European countries, "the crisis is severe" in Portugal.
"In some countries, certain factors are stronger than others, but here in Portugal, every factor seems to play a significant role," Tinagli said during the event in Lisbon.
She said this combination of factors "exacerbates the problem."
The MEP pointed to the shortage of social housing as a primary cause, noting it represents around 2% of the total stock in Portugal, one of the lowest figures in the European Union. She identified "speculative investment" as a key driver of the crisis.
Tinagli said the difficulties in utilising Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) funds before the programme's deadline. However, she said that "the challenge is to sustain the investment effort" and find ways to allocate resources to continue the work started in recent years.
The committee chair therefore advocated for "certain adjustments, such as reforming projects and leveraging funds to ensure objectives are met rather than lost".
One of the RRP goals involves the delivery of 26,000 new public homes. However, only 17,000 were made available by the end of last year, with the vast majority resulting from rehabilitation rather than new construction.
Limits on short-term holiday rentals in areas under the greatest housing pressure remain "a controversial topic in Portugal", despite being widely discussed across the EU, according to the chair of the HOUS Commission.
In Portugal, "it may take longer to discuss and implement measures to tackle the problem,” the MEP added.
Irene Tinagli (Socialists and Democrats) led the HOUS Commission's visit to Portugal to analyse responses to the country's housing crisis. MEPs João Oliveira (European Left), Daniel Buda (European People's Party), and Georgiana Teodorescu (European Conservatives and Reformists) also participated in the mission.
João Oliveira told Lusa that he advocates extending the RRP deadline until 2028, the year the EU's next financial framework should come into effect. He described this as an important measure to "take advantage of funds destined for housing projects that have suffered delays due to rising construction costs".
The MEPs met with the Secretary of State for Housing, Patrícia Gonçalves Costa, and the Secretary of State for Planning and Regional Development, Hélder Reis, on the final day of the mission.
CT/RYOL // AYLS
Lusa
