Lisbon is the most expensive city in Europe to rent a home.

The cost of renting a room in Lisbon has become prohibitive. Lisbon is currently the most expensive city in Europe to rent a home. Given the low level of wages in Portugal compared to the average in other EU countries, the situation for ordinary citizens has become unacceptable.

In his regular Sunday program last night, commentator and state counselor Luis Marques Mendes said he personally knows people who have been forced to leave Lisbon after years of living in the capital because they can no longer afford the rising (and vanishingly unreasonable) costs of living. At the same time, the government's "housing policy" (which is still awaiting presidential approval) has not only done nothing to limit rental and real estate price increases, but, according to Marques Mendes, has only provoked property owners, and prices continue to rise exponentially.

The data provided by international consultancy Housing Anywhere analyzed 64 properties in 23 European countries. According to the results, in the first half of this year, the cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment in the city center averages €2,500 a month, more expensive than in Amsterdam, which until this year was considered the most expensive city in Europe. People who wouldn't even consider renting a whole place for themselves have also found that room rental prices have recently increased by 30%, with the average payment rising from €425 to €525 a month.

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Discussing these problems last night, Marques Mendes opined that an agreement should be reached between the country's major political parties to curb this trend which is otherwise spiraling out of control. "Excessively high housing prices kill social mobility," he added, adding another factor to the discussion.

According to President Marcelo, he has until August 29 to review the government's criticized Mais Habitação (More Housing) housing policy, which has not really received support either from the extreme left (who think it suits the banks) or from the right, who consider it too authoritarian in some points (mandatory rental of vacant housing units and new rules for AL short-term rentals). Luis Montenegro, leader of the opposition PSD party (the only party large enough to have a chance of defeating the PS Socialists in the next election), has already called the housing program "another sign of the government's complete failure." Marina Gonçalves, the housing minister, however - the youngest minister in the history of Portuguese democracy - has consistently said she believes the policy is "balanced".