Portuguese blame real estate sector for housing crisis

The Portuguese public blames real estate developers and sector companies in general for the country’s affordable housing crisis according to an survey conducted by the proptech Imobiliária Imovendo that quizzed 1,200 people between September 20-25.

The survey revealed that the vast majority agreed with public shows of anger over the crisis as well as calling for more public and social housing, and the lowering of interest on mortgages and rents with fixed rental payments.
Although most of the replies from the survey came back from Lisbon and Porto, 96% agreed that the access to affordable housing crisis had to be resolved as it was one of the most pressing problems families in Portugal are facing today.
However, as to the recent proposal mooted in parliament to prohibit the sale of houses to non-residents, known as the Canada policy, the vast majority rejected the idea and were against it.
“The housing issue in Portugal is today is one of the economic and social problems that most affect Portuguese families according to 66.5% of those canvassed. People are affected by the indecision and delays on effective solutions. The result is that given the current scenario, 63.4% are not thinking of buying or selling their properties in the next two years,” says Miguel Mascarenhas, CEO of Imovendo.
Protests are expected across the country on Saturday against the government’s proposed solution to Portugal’s housing crisis.
While the controversial ‘More Housing’ programme was approved again by the ruling PS party in the parliament last week (after being vetoed by President Marcelo Rebelo da Sousa in August) and new measures were announced to tackle rising interest rates.