Portugal will end its golden visa programme, which offers residency rights to non-EU nationals in return for investments including in real estate and has been criticized for boosting house prices and rents. Successful applicants can apply to obtain a passport after 5 years.
Portugal announced a hefty package of measures to tackle a housing crisis, including the end of its controversial ‘Golden Visa’ scheme and a ban on new licenses for Airbnbs and other short-term holiday rentals.
Rents and house prices have skyrocketed in Portugal, which is among the poorest countries in Western Europe. Last year, more than 50% of workers earned less than 1,000 euros per month while in Lisbon alone, rents jumped 37% in 2022.
Low salaries, a red-hot property market, policies encouraging wealthy foreigners to invest and a tourism-dependent economy have for years made it hard for locals to rent or buy, housing groups have said. Portugal's 8.3% inflation rate has exacerbated the problem. Prime Minister Antonio Costa said the crisis was now affecting all families, not just the most vulnerable.
It is not clear when the measures, worth at least 900 million euros ($962.19 million), will come into effect. Costa said some would be approved next month and others will be voted on by lawmakers. A mechanism would be introduced to regulate rent increases, he added, and the government will offer tax incentives to landlords who convert tourism properties into houses for locals to rent.
The scheme attracted 6.8 billion euros in investment since its launch in 2012, with the bulk of the money going into real estate. Housing groups said the measures would mean little if the government continued to promote other policies to attract wealthy foreigners to Portugal, such as the ‘Digital Nomads Visa’ introduced in October, which gives foreigners with high monthly income from remote work to live and work from Portugal without paying local taxes. Singapore is piloting a new dorm-like public rental housing program for singles, and some say it looks worse than a Scandinavian prison.
