Braga, Portugal, May 15, 2026 (Lusa) – Portugal’s infrastructure and housing minister, Miguel Pinto Luz, said on Thursday that 100,000 "non-wealthy" young people bought homes in the last 18 months after the government exempted property transfer tax (IMT, a municipal tax on real estate purchases) and stamp duty.
"This is very relevant, it is significant to say 100,000 young people who did not have a house have one today," the minister said during a conference in Braga on cooperative and collaborative housing models.
The minister stressed the measures do not target wealthy youth, but rather "a middle class of doctors, engineers, young workers, and young entrepreneurs."
"Wealthy people did not need this measure [IMT exemption and stamp duty] to buy a home. Those buying these houses are young people, where transactions average around €200,000," he added.
The minister said that by next summer, two years earlier than planned, the government expects to have "built and implemented" the entire "Build Portugal – New Housing Strategy" programme, which aims to combat the property crisis.
"It was not faster because the government lacks the necessary majority," he said, adding that others often "distorted" the government’s intentions, such as the Land Law (regulates the conversion of land for construction), which he said parliament "completely distorted."
Pinto Luz said the housing problem developed "over at least a decade," with the increase in the working population, specifically immigrants.
He said immigrants "were essential for economic growth," but arrived when Portugal was not prepared to receive them in terms of housing, health, and education.
Regarding housing, Pinto Luz said the government is finishing the legislative package for cooperatives and called for everyone's contribution "with a less sectarian and less dogmatic vision."
"We can find common solutions, but the country is not used to that. It is more used to focusing on what divides us than on what brings us together.
We will not follow that path. We are fully committed to building platforms for common understanding and to offering answers to real problems. It is not a media issue, it is not an artificial issue, it is a real issue. We all know someone who cannot access housing," he said.
VCP/LYT // ADB.
Lusa
