Our programme

Our demands

Six concrete demands to make housing a right again, not a business. They don’t depend on who’s in government. They depend on how much strength we can build together.

Homes to live in, not to speculate with

A home is where life happens, not a line in an investment portfolio. Once housing becomes a financial product, prices follow what investors can pay, not what people earn.

Measures

Restrict home purchases by investment funds and companies that won’t live in them.
Cap short-term lets in areas under housing pressure, starting with Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve.
Steeply rising taxes on homes that large owners keep empty, with the money going to public housing.

A large public housing stock

The countries that kept housing affordable did it with a large stock of public and cooperative homes. In Portugal, public building fell from about 4,500 homes a year in the 1970s and early 1980s to fewer than 300 in the early 2010s.

Measures

A long-term public programme to build and renovate homes, with stable funding over many years.
Turn empty public buildings into homes instead of selling them to private investors.
Support for housing cooperatives and permanently affordable rents that never go back on the market.

Security: no eviction without somewhere to go

Short leases and fast-track evictions keep tenants constantly afraid: complain, and your lease may not be renewed. Without security, every other right stays on paper.

Measures

Leases of at least 10 years, as housing movements across the country are demanding.
No evictions of vulnerable families until decent rehousing is guaranteed.
Reverse the changes that speed up evictions instead of protecting the people living in the home.

Rents that fit our wages

In Lisbon, renting a two-bedroom flat costs more than a whole minimum wage. With no limits, every new lease pushes the price higher, and the people who keep the city running are priced out of it.

Measures

Reference rents for each area, tied to local incomes, with a binding cap on new leases.
Keep annual rent increases on existing leases well below wage growth.
Protect mortgage holders from sudden jumps in their repayments.

Collective rights for tenants

On their own, tenants have little power against a landlord. Together, as a building, a neighbourhood or a city, they can negotiate as equals, just as workers do through collective bargaining.

Measures

Legal recognition of collective bargaining between tenants’ associations and large landlords.
Protection from retaliation for tenants who organise or make a complaint.
Free legal help for tenants facing eviction or abuse.

Decent wages, pensions and public services

From 2015 to 2025, house prices rose 180% and the minimum wage rose 72%. The crisis lives in that gap between what we earn and what a home costs.

Measures

Wage and pension rises above inflation, tied to the real cost of living, housing included.
Good public services in every neighbourhood, not just where land is cheap.
Affordable, reliable public transport, so living further out isn’t a punishment.

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?