Lisbon, Jan. 9, 2026 (Lusa) - The Minister for Infrastructure acknowledged on Friday that the housing crisis cannot be resolved "overnight", but he expressed his conviction that the new legislative package will bring down house prices and encourage renting.
"The housing crisis cannot be solved overnight," said Miguel Pinto Luz, in response to criticism from the PS during today's debate in parliament on the government's new housing package, which provides for tax relief to encourage moderate-priced rental construction and changes to licensing, urbanisation and urban regeneration.
Miguel Pinto Luz said that the first line of action in response to housing is "social support", the second is "more public construction", which "is the best way to solve the housing crisis we are experiencing". However, "building a house takes time" and, therefore, the solution is "to encourage renting", he said.
The legislative package, said the minister at the start of the debate, aims to respond to the "difficulty in accessing housing" and aims to "make more houses available, more quickly", encouraging renting and reducing construction and rehabilitation costs.
Miguel Pinto Luz said that the government had decided to structure the legislative package "building on what was done well and correcting what did not work so well".
PS MP Frederico Francisco, former Secretary of State for Infrastructure in António Costa's government, used recent INE data on the evolution of the housing price index to link the rise to the measures already taken by the government.
About a year ago, the government introduced a public guarantee and exempted the purchase of a first home by young people aged 35 or under from IMT and stamp duty.
The minister countered that from 2015 to 2023, during the socialist government's term, rents rose by 125% and house prices rose by 106%.
The debate was marked by criticism from left-wing opposition parties that the Government, in one of its legislative proposals, uses €2,300 as a benchmark for a moderate rent.
Among the measures included in the legislative package is a reduction in VAT from 23% to 6% on the construction of houses sold for up to €648,000 or rented for up to €2,300 per month, as well as a reduction in personal income tax to encourage owners to rent out houses up to this income level.
PCP MP Paula Santos said that the moderate income benchmark is an "affront" when "more than 2.5 million workers have a gross salary of less than €1,000".
For PAN MP Inês Corte Real, the amount "is not moderation, it is speculation", given the value of salaries.
Livre MP Isabel Mendes Lopes also asked how the Government has the "audacity" to consider a rent of €2,300 moderate.
PS MP Miguel Costa Matos said that it is possible to create "tax incentives, yes", but not for "pseudo-moderate" rents.
On behalf of the PSD, MP Alexandre Poço accused the PS of waging a "misinformation campaign" around the tax package and rejected the idea that the government's proposals place "social labels".
BE MP Fabian Figueiredo said that the legacy of the Government's policies means that young people have to live with their parents.
In response to criticism of the €2,300 benchmark, Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento stressed that the ceiling goes "up to €2,300", which means it covers rents of "€1,000, €1,200, €1,500, €1,700, €2,000".
During the debate, IL MP Angélique Da Teresa criticised the fact that the planned incentives are temporary and will only last for three years, until 2029.
Chega MP João Graça criticised a measure that he says will perpetuate illegal urban development "as a fait accompli".
CDS-PP MP Paulo Núncio said that the legislative package would enable recovery from the "lost socialist decade".
JPP MP Filipe Sousa argued that more flexible rules are needed to accelerate urban regeneration while preserving local characteristics.
The Finance Minister said today that the government was preparing a third package of "legal improvement" measures to "increase supply".
Speeding up evictions and creating an emergency housing fund are among the measures that Minister Pinto Luz has put forward for launch shortly.
The fiscal measures included in the package discussed today are expected to cost between €200 and €300 million, said the Finance Minister at a parliamentary hearing on 7 January.
PCT/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
