What is the number of vacant properties held by the state? Private companies are interested in

One of the measures included in the "More Housing" package - much talked about - is the mandatory leasing of private properties not used by owners by the government. Several voices in the sector and civil society have criticized the government, which wants to oblige private owners to rent out properties without giving the state itself an example.

Nobody really knows how much public real estate there is in Portugal, and the counting of public real estate has been dragging on for more than a decade. Nevertheless, several private investors have already shown interest in unused public properties, such as hospitals and barracks, which have the potential to build housing in central Lisbon and Porto.

When presenting the "More Housing" package, which is under public consultation until March 10, Antonio Costa announced his intention to adopt a "forced rental" regime for unused houses, complementing already existing measures to increase the tax burden on these properties.

The idea is for the state or municipality to rent houses to individuals and then sublet them to families, thereby increasing the supply of housing in the rental market. Here the socialist government proposes to collect rent from families and pay the owner the appropriate rent (from which the cost of rebuilding, if any, will be deducted).

The counting of government properties continues ... Many market experts and opposition parties have spoken out against the measure, saying it is an "attack on private property." Others also pointed the finger at the government, saying the state is not setting an example in rehabilitating public real estate to provide more rental housing. A movement has emerged on social media to try to identify unused public real estate across the country.

An example are two buildings in Loures that have stood empty for more than 15 years and that the municipality of that city bought for more than 2 million euros in 2017, SIC Notícias reported. Only now the municipality of Loures will start renovating the buildings to offer 45 properties on the affordable housing market for rent, 5 dwellings for people with disabilities and another 15 beds in emergency temporary housing.

How much property does the state have? And how much property stands devastated and can be rebuilt? No one knows. The counting of public real estate has been delayed for more than a decade in Portugal, even after Decree-Law No. 280/2007 required "a complete inventory of the property of the public domain of the State". The Ministry of Finance, responsible for coordinating the inventory, does not answer the question of how many properties the state has, writes Expresso.

The Ministry of Housing, however, says that the Institute of Housing and Urban Planning (IHRU) has more than three thousand projects or contractors, to which will be added more than a thousand vacant or affordable properties that could become new affordable rental housing units, the same magazine reports.

Private investors are interested in government-owned properties.

Although the exact number of state-owned buildings is unknown, the fact remains that many have already been identified by ordinance as having potential for housing and affordable rental units (many have already been converted and rehabilitated). And many developers and real estate investors are indeed interested in various vacant government properties with potential for housing in the center of Lisbon and Porto, the publication reports.

One of the most attractive empty government properties for housing development in Lisbon include:

• Miguel Bombarda Hospital;
• Ministry of Education building on October 5 Avenue;
• GNR apartment in Cabeza de Bola;

Also in Porto, developers have already identified several vacant government properties that have the potential to be used as housing, the same publication reports:

• the former Distrito de Recruitment Military (DRM) building on Avenue França;
• Former headquarters of Banco Nacional Ultramarino on Avenida dos Aliados;
• Manutenção Militar building in Massarelos;

It should be noted that the Initiative of Liberals (IL) recently presented a project based on the possibility of the state to provide private individuals with empty public property. These buildings would then be converted to housing and offered in the affordable rental housing market for five years, if not owned and permanent housing.