The fact that there is a housing shortage in Portugal is nothing new. Demand far exceeds supply and this discrepancy in the market has pushed house prices to historic levels. Now the country has also learned that the housing stock is quite old. For every 100 buildings built after 2011, 747 were built until 1960. This is one of the data of the housing portrait in Portugal released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics based on the results of the 2021 census.
The weak constructive dynamics of the past decade have contributed to this aging population. Between 2011 and 2021 there were increases of only 1.7% in the number of dwellings and 0.8% in buildings, much lower than in previous decades, when the percentages of variation were always higher than 10% for buildings, and between 16.3% and 25.0% for housing,” according to the INE analysis. In the past decade, just over 110,000 buildings have been built, equivalent to 3.1% of the housing stock, which now totals 5.9 million homes and 3 .5 million buildings The regions of Lisbon and Porto concentrate 39.1% of existing homes, with the Metropolitan Region of Lisbon accounting for 25.1% and the Metropolitan Region of Porto 14%.
Based on the results of the 2021 census, we concluded that most buildings do not need repair (64.2%), but there are still 1.2 million buildings (35.8%) that need intervention. The study reveals the need for light works in 780,000 developments, medium in 335,000 and deep in 163,000. More than half of the buildings in urgent need of renovation are empty.
The reactions of the Portuguese to the 2021 census led to the conclusion that more than 63% of the habitual residence is underpopulated, that is, its size would allow more residents. As the survey progressed, approximately 28.9% had one division more and 15.3% had three or more divisions more. Overcrowded houses represent 12.7%, with 9.7% of these houses needing one more room and 0.7% needing at least three more. Normal bearing capacity was found in 23.7% of the total number of ordinary homes.
The analysis led to the conclusion that 69.4% of Portuguese houses are used as primary residences, and within this universe, the properties usually have four or five rooms. According to the survey, just over half of classic single-family homes (51.9%) have a usable area between 60 square meters (m2) and 119 m2, which equates to an average usable area of 112.4 m2.
In 61.6% of owner-occupied homes, there are no costs associated with the purchase of homes. In the rest of the universe, the monthly costs resulting from the purchase of a house are approximately 360.5 euros. In rental properties, the average rent is 334 euros.
Sónia Santos Pereira is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
