Government aims to unlock undivided inheritances: a single heir can initiate the process
The government has approved new regulations to resolve undivided inheritances, aiming to boost housing supply and enhance fire prevention efforts.

Latest news and stories about housing supply in government in Portugal for expats and residents.
The government has approved new regulations to resolve undivided inheritances, aiming to boost housing supply and enhance fire prevention efforts.

Cascais City Council has exercised its right of first refusal to buy 32 plots near Quinta da Marinha for €30 million, blocking a sale the owner had negotiated with two private firms. The council approved a loan to finance the acquisition, raising issues about use of public funds to secure strategic, high-value land in one of the municipality’s most expensive areas and the implications for local planning and market dynamics.

A proposed measure in a housing-supply package due for a parliamentary vote this Friday would make the absence of a required licence a ground for invalidating property sales. Analytically, the change could introduce significant legal uncertainty for buyers, sellers, lenders and conveyancers, risk delaying transactions and cooling market activity unless clear transitional rules and enforcement guidance are set out. Stakeholders will be watching for details on compliance requirements, liability allocation and any safeguards to avoid unintended disruption to the housing market.

On the surface, the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) in Portugal appears successful, but deeper analysis reveals significant shortcomings, particularly in housing. A recent European Parliament mission highlighted that the current 2026 deadline is too tight for full fund utilisation and that existing funds have been primarily used for renovating existing properties rather than increasing the overall housing supply. There is an urgent need to extend the RRP deadline and shift the focus of EU funds towards increasing public housing stock and converting properties currently used for tourism into affordable homes for middle-class families.

Public works tenders launched totalled approximately 10 billion euros.

The Executive is preparing amendments to the tenancy law to speed up evictions in cases of non-compliance and also wants to unblock undivided inheritances. The goal is to increase the housing supply.

Portugal’s Social Security owns thousands of properties across the country. Many are empty, poorly recorded and generating no income, yet they continue to weigh on public finances. What is failing in the management of Social Security’s property portfolio? Listen to the new episode of Economia dia a dia, Expresso’s daily podcast, presented by Juliana Simões.

Elected three months ago, the mayor of Porto intends to reduce the city’s economic dependence on tourism and real estate. A critic of the “huge densification of new developments” in the city, Pedro Duarte says he will curb that “impetus”, starting with planning permission, with the city council “looking differently at the real estate projects that emerge, ...

The Government's housing package, approved by Parliament on 9 January, is 'welcome' and contains 'positive' measures, but it is not certain that it will increase the supply of homes or reduce prices, acknowledge executives from leading estate agencies. For Rafael Ascenso, founder and partner at Porta da Frente Christie's, the new package brings advances ...

What is needed to bring house prices down? Experts point to the supply of housing as the main problem.

The governor of the Bank of Portugal says increasing housing supply is necessary to slow or stop rising house prices.

In a context of housing access crisis and with construction approvals slowing again, doubts are growing about the sector's ability to put more homes on the market. Between announced incentives and obstacles on the ground, measures do not always translate into more supply. Vera Gouveia Barros helps explain what is holding the sector back. Listen to the podcast here.

A bill to increase housing supply was submitted to the Assembly of the Republic this Tuesday.
