A bill presented in parliament proposes the establishment of the National Program for the Mobilization of Vacant Properties for Rent with Controlled Rent, managed by the Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU). The initiative aims to increase the supply of housing at “prices compatible” with family incomes and to ensure an urban rehabilitation policy that is sustainable, socially and environmentally responsible.
This program includes the creation of a “special financial line” managed by IHRU to support rehabilitation works of vacant properties and offers tax benefits, such as exemption from IMI for up to 15 years, as well as IMT and stamp duty on the acquisition of properties intended for rehabilitation under the program.
Rehabilitated properties available in this program must be rented with controlled rent for a minimum period of ten years.
The party of Inês de Sousa Real also proposes that the State grant subsidies of up to 50% of the cost of rehabilitation work when the property is ceded for more than 20 years for conditional rent, guaranteeing interest rate bonuses in credit contracts for rehabilitation.
Individuals or legal entities owning vacant properties, as well as municipalities or intermunicipal entities “that own properties in full ownership or under lease for housing purposes,” can apply for this program.
In the bill’s justification, PAN states there are about 45,000 vacant homes in Lisbon, and current legislation has “proved insufficient to ensure the mobilization of the vacant stock for residential leasing.”
“Often, fiscal penalties are ineffective against the economic return obtained by keeping properties unoccupied, in the context of real estate speculation. It is therefore important to reverse this trend, promoting an active public policy of converting vacant properties for affordable rent,” it reads.
The party also warns of the “structural housing crisis” in Portugal, where “Portuguese families channel more than 40% of their monthly budget to housing expenses,” and notes that the “public housing stock in Portugal represents only about 2% of the total housing supply, compared to the EU average of around 12%.”
Besides this bill, PAN also presented a resolution recommending the Government ensure that, from 2026, home insurance in Portugal provides “coverage for emergency relocation expenses of victims of domestic violence and their children.”
