In metropolitan areas, 10% of dwellings are without residents. Solving the problem may undergo less strict lease protection measures, experts suggest.
Municipalities such as Penela (in Coimbra) or Alvito (in Beja), have a quarter of empty houses (25.9%, in the case of Penela and 25.4% in the second example).
There are cities where the problem is less serious, such as Vinhais, Bragança, or Sabrosa, in Vila Real, where there are only about 6% of empty houses.
However, according to data presented by, in areas of great urban pressure the problem is great: in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, they are about 10% the vacant housesand were taken into account the municipality of Lisbon (14.9%) and Porto (15.2%) In isolation the abandonment of houses is even more notorious.
In the country’s total, there are about 243,000 accommodation and more than half (136 thousand) is not for sale even to lease. Degradation and administrative problems or with inheritance These are some of the reasons pointed out to make this happen.
According to the demographer Alda Botelho Azevedo, “There would be no need for new construction if vacant housing that needs rehabilitationrehabilitated and available as family lodgings of usual residence ”.
But it is not that simple. “Doing so implies locating the owners of vacant accommodations, resolve legal issues as indivisible inheritances and implement measures that encourage the transformation of the housing park.
In addition, it is very important to regulate speculative practices that maintain integer buildings in large urban centers outside the housing market waiting for appreciation, ”says the expert.
Economist Ricardo Guimarães explains that there is also another way to follow the real estate pressure in these zones: transform their own housesthat in the capital and the largest cities are too large.
“Cities in Germany, such as Berlin, have explored old housing rehabilitation programs to resize them, creating smaller units that meet the growing demand for small accommodation,” he notes.
Alda Botelho Azevedo explains: “Considering demographic pressure on the housing park in both metropolitan areas, it is essential that the state prioritizes policies that encourage the rehabilitation and use of these housing.
Taking into account the economic conjuncture, It is not very realistic to build On a large scale in large urban centers at affordable prices, but public buildings could enter the market at prices that the middle class can pay. ”
