# Right to Housing in Portugal: homes to live in, not to profit from > Campaign for the right to housing in Portugal: the crisis in numbers, our demands, upcoming protests and how to organise for fair rents and public housing. URL: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/ Language: en-GB Last updated: 2026-10-26 Other languages: pt: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/index.md, es: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/es/index.md, eu: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/eu/index.md, fr: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/fr/index.md, it: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/it/index.md, el: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/el/index.md, de: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/de/index.md, cs: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/cs/index.md, pl: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/pl/index.md, ca: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/ca/index.md, gl: https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/gl/index.md --- The right to housing · Portugal # Homes to live in. Not to profit from. House prices have almost tripled in ten years. Rent eats up wages, evictions keep rising and more than 700,000 homes sit empty. None of this is inevitable. These are political choices, and choices can be changed. [Take part](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/take-part/) · [Our demands](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/our-demands/) [The crisis in numbers →](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/the-crisis/) Portuguese Constitution · Article 65 “Everyone shall possess the right for themselves and their family to an adequately sized dwelling that provides hygienic and comfortable conditions and preserves personal and family privacy.” A right written into the Constitution in 1976, and still not honoured. Agenda ## Coming up - 2026-10-27 18:30 · [Protesto por um Orçamento do Estado que garanta habitação](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/mobilizacoes/protesto-por-um-orcamento-do-estado-que-garanta-habitacao.md) · Concentração · Porto, Estação de metro da Trindade · Casa Para Viver - 2026-10-27 18:30 · [Manifestação pela habitação frente à Assembleia da República](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/mobilizacoes/manifestacao-pela-habitacao-frente-a-assembleia-da-republica.md) · Manifestação · Lisboa, Assembleia da República - 2026-11-14 time TBC · [Manifestação nacional pela habitação em Viana do Castelo](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/mobilizacoes/manifestacao-nacional-pela-habitacao-em-viana-do-castelo.md) · Manifestação · Viana do Castelo, Praça da República · Casa Para Viver [See the full agenda](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/agenda/) Citizens’ Legislative Initiative ## The law is yours too With 20,000 signatures, any group of citizens can put a bill before Parliament. The Acampada pela Habitação, the movement behind the tent camps, is drafting one, and wants to hear from you: what is the biggest housing problem, and what would you change in the law? 1 ### Have your say Answer the survey and come to the open sessions around the country. A committee of 5 to 10 people drafts the bill from what people say. 2 ### Sign 20,000 voters sign the proposal. 3 ### To Parliament The bill goes to the Assembleia da República to be debated and voted on. Parliament has admitted 14 citizens’ initiatives so far, and approved 8. [Answer the survey](https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/Gwwywk32Z8XpK6HOOoFDRhpwvEnqHV9m6V-AJxhc9qE/) · [ILC website](https://ilc-habitacao.sites.deploybase.eu/) Both are in Portuguese. The survey is end-to-end encrypted and can be answered anonymously. Contact: [ilc-habitacao@proton.me](mailto:ilc-habitacao@proton.me) ### What the tent camps are demanding - Repeal the 2012 rent law - Stop evictions - Ban vulture funds from buying homes - More public housing - Bring empty buildings back into use as homes - Caps on rents One struggle ## At home, at work, in the neighbourhood Landlords on one side, bosses on the other: wages don’t stretch far enough and rent takes half. That’s why the fight for housing is also a fight for better wages, pensions and public services. Tenants ### At home Get together with the rest of your building and join a tenants’ association. Together we can negotiate rents, push back on unfair increases and stop evictions. Workers ### At work Wages have to keep up with the cost of living. Raise housing with your union and your workmates: it’s a workplace issue too. Neighbours ### In the neighbourhood Local shops, schools, health centres: a neighbourhood with no residents dies. Stand with the people who live there against being pushed out by tourism and speculation. Whoever is in government, housing is a right. And we’re going to win it. The crisis in numbers ## It’s not a bubble. It’s the system. - **+180%**: rise in house prices in Portugal from 2015 to 2025. EU average: +65%. (Eurostat) - **17,42 €/m²**: median rent on new leases in Lisbon. For a 70 m² flat, that’s about €1,220 a month: more than a whole minimum wage. (INE, Q1 2026) - **723,000**: empty homes in Portugal, 12% of all housing. (INE, 2021 Census) - **≈2%**: of homes are public housing, one of the lowest shares in Europe. (ISCTE, 2025) [See all the figures](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/the-crisis/) Our demands ## Six demands to win back the right to a home 01 ### Homes to live in, not to speculate with Stop treating homes as financial assets: curb speculative buying, limit short-term lets where they push residents out and tax homes kept empty. 02 ### A large public housing stock Build up public housing, now about 2% of homes, through new construction, renovation and putting empty public buildings to use. 03 ### Security: no eviction without somewhere to go Long leases, no evictions without a decent place to go, and protection for families who fall behind through no fault of their own. 04 ### Rents that fit our wages Regulate and bring down rents, with caps tied to local incomes, and protect families with mortgages from rising repayments. 05 ### Collective rights for tenants Recognise tenants’ associations as negotiating partners on rents and conditions, the way unions are at work. 06 ### Decent wages, pensions and public services No housing policy works on poverty wages. We need real rises in wages and pensions, and good schools, healthcare and public transport. [Read the full programme](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/our-demands/) How to take part ## Everything starts with getting organised No one can fix this alone. Want to start a group where you live, or sign your organisation up to these demands? Get in touch. [How to take part](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/take-part/) · [Get in touch](mailto:contacto@habitacao.bytetoit.com) 1 ### Get your building or street together Talk to your neighbours, start a group and compare rents, leases and problems. Knowing what everyone pays is where your power starts. 2 ### Join a tenants’ association and a union Being in both protects you from your landlord and your boss. [Find an organisation](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/get-organised/). 3 ### Take to the streets Join the demonstrations and local actions for the right to housing. Every one counts, in big cities and small towns alike. 4 ### Spread the word Share the figures on this site, talk about your own situation, print posters and bring the debate to your school, workplace and residents’ association. Not the first time ## When residents and workers stood together, they won ### 1974: Occupations and residents’ committees Right after the revolution of 25 April, thousands of families occupied empty homes and set up residents’ committees. Housing became one of the great struggles of the revolution. ### 1976: Housing in the Constitution Article 65 of the Constitution gives everyone the right to adequate housing and makes the State responsible for delivering it. ### 2023: Back on the streets The Casa Para Viver platform brings dozens of movements together and fills the streets of cities across the country. ### 2026: Tents in the square In October, tent camps in Lisbon’s Rossio and Porto’s Praça D. João I bring housing to the heart of both cities. The police clear them, but the protests keep growing, and on 24 October thousands march in Lisbon and Porto. [Read the history](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/not-the-first-time/) Join both ## To win, organise at home and at work ### Tenants’ association Learn your rights, get legal support and deal with your landlord together. Tenants who organise negotiate from a much stronger position. ### Trade union Advice, protection from retaliation and the collective strength to win wages that can actually pay for a home. [Find your organisation](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/get-organised/) You’re not alone ## Who’s fighting for housing Movements, associations and collectives standing up for the right to a home in Portugal. Get to know them and join in. ### [Vida Justa](https://vidajusta.org) Movement born in Lisbon’s outer neighbourhoods, fighting for housing and against the rising cost of living. vidajusta.org CPV ### [Casa Para Viver](https://www.casaparaviver.pt) National platform of movements and collectives that calls the big housing demonstrations. casaparaviver.pt ### [Porta a Porta: Casa para Todos](https://www.portaaporta.pt) National housing movement with local groups in several cities. portaaporta.pt ### [ILC pela Habitação](https://ilc-habitacao.sites.deploybase.eu/) The tent camps’ citizens’ initiative to take a new housing law to Parliament. ilc-habitacao.sites.deploybase.eu ### [Habita!](https://habita.info) Association for the right to housing and to the city. habita.info SD ### [Stop Despejos](https://www.instagram.com/stopdespejos/) Collective that supports people facing eviction. instagram.com/stopdespejos ### [Movimento Referendo pela Habitação](https://referendopelahabitacao.pt) Non-partisan movement of Lisbon residents calling for a local referendum on short-term lets. referendopelahabitacao.pt ### [Morar em Lisboa](https://moraremlisboa.org) Movement for a new housing policy and a city for everyone. moraremlisboa.org ### [Associação dos Inquilinos Lisbonenses](https://www.ail.pt) Lisbon. Information and legal support for members. ail.pt ### [Associação dos Inquilinos e Condóminos do Norte de Portugal](https://www.aicnp.pt) Northern Portugal. Free legal advice for members. aicnp.pt [See all organisations](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/get-organised/) ## Housing is a right. Let’s win it. Join the people getting organised in buildings, neighbourhoods and workplaces all over Portugal. [Take part](https://habitacao.bytetoit.com/en/take-part/) · [Get in touch](mailto:contacto@habitacao.bytetoit.com)