As you may know, there were elections recently and the Portuguese government went through some major changes, going from the 9-year-long leadership of PS to PSD. The new prime minister and AD coalition party just presented their new program, which includes some major changes regarding the housing market in Portugal. Let’s go over them!
As previously stated, the new government, led by Prime minister Luís Montenegro, recently announced its proposed program for the next 4 years. Since housing is one of the biggest items on the Portuguese political agenda – and the European one, as well -, it is one of the subjects with the most changes proposed, together with health, taxes, and education. So what exactly is the government proposing?
Do you remember the Mais Habitação program? It was announced a little over a year ago by the previous government and consisted of a package of many changes to be implemented in the Portuguese housing market. These included the end of the Golden Visa program and the ban on new Alojamento Local licenses in heavily populated areas.
Well, the new government proposes that all Mais Habitação measures be revoked, stating, in the program, that “the answer to the housing crisis does not lie in administrative price controls, freezing rents or limiting them within very narrow bands, ignoring the rules in force for everyone”.
Since the government is proposing the withdrawal of all Mais Habitação measures, this would include reinstating the Golden Visa program. However, there is no direct mention of such action; the same goes for the NHR (Non-habitual Resident) tax program, which officially ended at the beginning of 2024. Nevertheless, AD politicians have suggested in the past that international investment programs would be worked on in case the party won.
For example, António Leitão Amaro, PSD’s vice president and Minister of the Presidency, said in February of this year that “there could be an improvement in the mechanisms for directing (the Golden Visa program) towards supporting the satisfaction of market failures or the need to increase the supply of affordable rent. This is a possibility to be analyzed.”
In the proposed program, there are only two references to international investment and residency visas, which are:
To sum it up, there are no concrete answers regarding the Golden Visa and NHR programs right now. If you were hoping to apply to either of them, the future looks promising, but we definitely have to wait and see.
Portugal, just like Europe and the general rest of the world, is going through a housing crisis at the moment. In order to tackle this huge subject matter, AD’s housing proposition is divided between five strategic axes.
For the housing crisis to be eased, Montenegro’s executive states that the housing supply should be increased, be it through private investment, encouraged via fiscal incentives; public, through the mobilization of existing stock or new construction; or cooperative, through making the government partner up with private enterprises. These are some of the specific measures proposed:
This is one of the proposed measures that’s causing the most public discussion. AD’s government plans to free young people (younger than 35) from paying the IMT (Property Transfer Tax) and stamp duty (Imposto de Selo) when buying their first house. Plus, it plans to make getting a mortgage as a young person much easier.
As previously explained, the other major axe of the new program is the erasure of all the Mais Habitação measures implemented last year. These include:
However, there is no specific mention in the program of which measures will be eradicated, changed, or improved.
The propositions aren’t initially voted by Parliament, they are simply evaluated by the opposition parties, who can present motions to reject the program. Many parties have expressed their disapproval of the program, which can lead to it being voted on. If the draft resolutions presented by the opposition are approved – a minimum of 116 MPs (deputados) must be in favor – the Stability Program will go to a vote, forcing all political parties to adopt a position (this includes abstention).
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