Lisbon launches housing scheme to lure young people back to neighbourhoods

Lisbon City Council is set to approve a new affordable housing scheme aimed at helping young people return to the neighbourhoods where they grew up, as the Portuguese capital continues to grapple with a worsening housing affordability crisis.

The proposal, due to be approved today, creates a dedicated affordable rental programme for people aged up to 35 who currently live, or have lived within the past 10 years, in the same parish as the property for which they are applying.

The initiative forms part of the “Back to the Neighbourhood” (“De Volta ao Bairro”) programme and will initially offer 25 homes across several areas of the capital.

According to Diário de Notícias, the proposal will be presented by Lisbon councillor for Urban Planning, Housing and Municipal Buildings, Vasco Moreira Rato, and delivers on a campaign promise made by Mayor Carlos Moedas during the municipal elections that secured his second term in office.

The first homes available under the programme are located in the parishes of Santa Maria Maior (10 properties), Avenidas Novas (four), Campo de Ourique (four), Misericórdia (three), as well as single properties in Arroios, Lumiar, Santo António and São Domingos de Benfica.

Moedas said the idea emerged after noticing that many participants in Lisbon’s traditional Popular Marches no longer live in the neighbourhoods they continue to represent.

“There has to be an advantage for people who are from here,” the mayor said, arguing that residents forced to leave Lisbon because of soaring housing costs should receive priority when affordable homes become available.

The city plans to add a further 70 to 80 homes to the scheme by the end of the year and aims to expand the programme to around 700 properties by 2030.

Housing stock will include both newly-built homes and renovated municipal properties that previously stood vacant.

Rents will follow the city’s Affordable Rent Programme model, with tenants paying approximately one-third of their household income.

Moedas rejected suggestions that the scheme could be seen as discriminatory, stressing that foreign nationals who previously lived in the relevant neighbourhoods will also be eligible to apply.

“There is no discrimination against any nationality,” he said. “The objective is simply to recognise people who have an existing connection to these neighbourhoods.”

The programme is the latest attempt by Lisbon’s municipal government to address the social impact of rising property prices which have pushed many younger residents and local families out of the city centre and into surrounding municipalities.

Source: Executive Digest/ Diário de Notícias

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.