Lisbon, July 31, 2025 (Lusa) - Most municipal councils in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area agree that there should be a national response to the housing problem, and that its resolution is not the sole responsibility of local authorities.
Lusa questioned the 18 local authorities that make up the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) on the subject. Four authorities, Mafra, Oeiras (where the current president has already spoken publicly), Seixal and Vila Franca de Xira, chose not to respond. The AML, as an entity, understood that “a response is not possible”.
In any case, the mayor of Sintra (PS) - who is currently also the president of the AML - had already spoken recently in a debate on SIC Notícias and has now repeated his views in writing.
Basílio Horta advocates “the creation of a National Emergency Plan for Housing, which coordinates all decisions arising from the implementation of housing policy”.
The measure, “not only positive but absolutely crucial”, should include responses to homelessness, emergencies and substandard housing, but also the strengthening of affordable rental housing for those on middle incomes, he suggests.
"It is essential to emphasise that the housing crisis the country is going through is a collective challenge that extends beyond local authorities," given that it is "a national problem that requires a coordinated and robust response from the State," points out the mayor, an independent elected by the PS who will not stand for re-election in October.
The mayor recalls that housing is a right enshrined in the Constitution "and, therefore, a primary responsibility of the State". He warned that "local authorities must receive support" in the face of the housing crisis, "because only through collaborative efforts can we ensure the effectiveness of the responses and uphold the principle of territorial equity".
The Loures City Council (PS), at the centre of the controversy for ordering the demolition of precarious buildings, had also already taken a position: the housing problem is structural and requires a coordinated response at the national level.
In a written response, the council, led by socialist Ricardo Leão, recalls that in March, within the AML, it signed a request for an urgent meeting with the government on the subject (which it reinforced in July on its own initiative). “Local authorities must receive broader support to respond effectively to a phenomenon of national dimensions,” it insists.
“A structured and urgent response from the central government is essential, in particular from the IHRU [Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation],” agrees the Almada local authority.
As the Lisbon City Council has said and repeated, the Almada City Council (PS) also notes that even “in cases where there is funding” from the central government or European Union funds, “it arrives later than expected,” so the municipality “resorts to its own resources while awaiting the necessary reimbursements.”
The Palmela City Council (CDU) joins the warning, since of the more than €8.8 million invested by the municipality under the Local Housing Strategy, only €3.6 million has been reimbursed: “The response that municipalities are providing in the area of housing is limiting their financial capacity”.
The current housing crisis “clearly exceeds the response capacity of local authorities,” stresses Palmela, which, faced with a “structural and prolonged” problem, considers that “the central government should adopt a national emergency plan for housing.”
Firstly, because such a programme would ensure “the capacity to mobilise adequate financial and human resources, speed up administrative and urban planning procedures and strengthen coordination between central government, municipalities, social sector entities and private entities”, he said.
The Odivelas City Council, currently run by the PS, points out that almost 30 percent of the population of mainland Portugal is concentrated in the 18 municipalities of the AML, “which creates immense pressure on this territory”, a “structural imbalance” that “must, once and for all, be looked at seriously, with a clear strategy and broad national consensus”.
Odivelas considers “more robust action by the government to be urgent and necessary” and says that the problem requires “a multi-level response that benefits from involvement beyond the local level” and instead calls for “the involvement of the various spheres of intervention in housing: central government, municipalities, public and private entities”.
The current crisis requires “a coordinated, structured and funded response” that recognises housing as a right and not just a market commodity, it notes, pointing out that “the very sustainability of public housing requires continued investment in rehabilitation, maintenance and management” that local authorities alone cannot deliver.
“All public actors must coordinate their intervention to provide emergency responses and to build housing at controlled costs and for affordable rent,” appeals the Amadora City Council (PS), noting that additional resources beyond the municipal budget and EU funds are necessary.
For the Moita council (PS), “it is clear” that the current situation “is a national problem”, and local authorities, not only in the AML but throughout the country, need additional financial and technical resources to ensure an effective response, so “major intervention” by the government is essential.
The Moita municipal government also said that the response to the housing crisis should “deserve a series of coordinated measures” between the central and local governments.
"There must be measures from the central administration, there must be a national housing support plan, whether for subsidised rent or affordable rent", with "defined financing", according to the municipality of Sesimbra (CDU).
Municipalities have a fundamental role to play in promoting publicly managed housing, acknowledges the Barreiro council (PS), stressing that there must be "a joint strategy that includes legislative changes and a high level of investment".
The municipality of Cascais (PSD) agrees that the housing problem “requires joint work between central and local government” and that municipalities must collaborate to “respond effectively”. At the same time, each “does its part”.
This is the view of the current mayor of Oeiras (who will run for re-election as an independent), Isaltino Morais, who has expressed his views on the subject. First, “it is the municipal councils that have to respond” to the crisis, namely by building more public housing.
The Setúbal City Council responded in a more evasive manner. Led by André Martins (of the CDU and running for re-election), it advocates “rent control” and “a maximum rent ceiling”, as well as strengthening the public housing stock. At the same time, it focuses on its own initiatives rather than on the role of the central government and local authorities.
The Lisbon City Council, led by Social Democrat Carlos Moedas, believes that "housing solutions must be thought out and worked on at all levels," recalling that it proposed a measure to create the Metropolitan Housing Council, with the function of coordinating the housing policies of the municipalities that make up the AML.
SBR/ADB // ADB.
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