Lisbon, July 31, 2025 (Lusa) - At least 30,000 families are on the waiting list for housing in the municipalities of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML), according to a count that Lusa carried out using official data.
Lusa sought to obtain figures on the number of families waiting for municipal housing from the Lisbon Metropolitan Area authority. However, the authority said it still needs to compile this aggregate data.
Eighteen municipalities in the AML received questions; Seixal and Vila Franca de Xira did not respond.
Taking into account the requests registered in the 16 municipalities that responded, as of July, at least 31,035 families were waiting for municipal housing, with some councils providing precise figures and others only more general estimates.
Lisbon leads the way, with around 15,700 families waiting (8,700 in the Supported Rental Programme and around 7,000 in the Affordable Rent Programme).
Next are Sintra with around 4,000 families, Setúbal with 1,963, Oeiras with 1,467, Cascais with 1,371, Odivelas with 1,220, Amadora with around 1,200 and Loures with around 1,000.
The rest are all below a thousand applications: Barreiro (812), Alcochete (462), Sesimbra (430), Moita (428), Mafra (425), Almada (280), Montijo (176) and Palmela (101).
Some councils have indicated the number of people referred to by the households on the waiting list. For example, in Sintra, the 4,000 housing applications correspond to around 10,000 people, while in Setúbal, the number is halved.
The Barreiro City Council provided even more detail, stating that the 812 active applications correspond to 3,248 people, with an average per capita income of around €325.
Lusa also wanted to know what is being done in each municipality to respond to the current crisis.
In the capital, Carlos Moedas (who is running for re-election in October, supported by the PSD/CDS-PP/IL) delivered around 3,000 housing solutions in his first four years in office.
Basílio Horta, an independent elected by the PS, governs the municipality of Sintra, and term limits prevent him from standing for re-election. Under the Local Housing Strategy, Sintra has already allocated 1,513 homes and currently has 204 vacant homes available.
In Oeiras - where Isaltino Morais will run again as an independent candidate - the council is maintaining or renovating 58 municipal housing units, and is constructing 743 more for supported rental and reduced rent programmes.
The municipality of Cascais - run by Carlos Carreiras (PSD), who has reached the term limit - launched a programme at the beginning of the year to create 3,600 homes by 2028 and also opened applications for 45 affordable homes for young people up to the age of 35 and professionals displaced from the areas of health, education, security and civil protection, with applications open until 27 August.
In Odivelas, where Hugo Martins (PS, re-candidate) is in office, the renovation of 52 homes is underway, 26 of which should be ready for occupancy in October and the rest in June 2026, and the construction of six developments, four of which should be completed in June 2026 and the other two in December 2027.
The Amadora municipal government (currently led by the PS, with Vítor Ferreira) said it was building public housing with funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR, European funds), having approved in mid-July the acquisition of 22 plots for the construction and reinforcement of the municipal housing stock.
At the same time, the municipality acknowledges that it is still working to respond to the 711 families registered under the Special Rehousing Programme who live in the municipality’s slums.
In Almada, the scenario also includes rehousing operations in two of the municipality’s four slums, “which in all cases have been going on for decades”, the local authority acknowledges.
Since the beginning of its term of office and until March, the council (led by the socialist Inês de Medeiros, who will run again) has allocated 159 municipal housing units, 106 of which to families living in 2.º Torrão and Terras de Abreu e Lelo Martins, totalling 300 people.
The neighbourhood of Penajóia, the most recent cluster of precarious buildings on land owned by the Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU), where an estimated 500 families live, remains outside the scope.
The local authority has “repeatedly” notified the IHRU to restore legality, a step that remains pending, and has therefore filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
During the current term of office, the Almada council has acquired 49 dwellings, initiated the construction of 270 and rehabilitated 343 municipal dwellings, as well as launching a rental support programme, worth a maximum of 220 euros per month, which supports 60 families.
The municipality of Alcochete (currently PS, led by Fernando Pinto) has 54 municipal dwellings earmarked for subsidised rent, which are “all allocated”, with 14 houses in the initial stages of construction and a further eight units awaiting approval.
In the municipality of Barreiro (led by the PS, with Francisco Costa Rosa), the Local Housing Strategy has allocated ten houses, and the municipality is preparing 44 more housing solutions.
In Mafra, the local authority (PSD, where the current president, Hugo Moreira Luís, will be running again) has defined the implementation of 390 housing solutions. It has a programme that supports the rent of 130 families.
In Montijo (PS council, led by Maria Clara Silva), the council is preparing a tender for the allocation of 15 units, as well as the construction of 91 new homes and the refurbishment of 100 existing ones, which are expected to be completed in 2026.
In Sesimbra (governed by the CDU, with Francisco Jesus), the three applications approved under the PRR will enable the renovation of 60 municipal dwellings and the purchase of 88 homes.
Also led by the CDU (with Álvaro Amaro), the municipality of Palmela has allocated 49 homes under the Local Housing Strategy. Today, it will deliver three more, with contractors currently tendering for renovation of two homes and the municipality running a tender for construction of 21 more homes.
SBR/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
