"Stability is a key factor in gaining investor trust."."

Chinese company A Level Constellation (LC) landed in Portugal in 2014 and has since invested in several properties in Lisbon. However, with the advent of the pandemic and the worsening housing crisis caused by inflation and rising interest rates, the situation has become much more complicated.

The national market is experiencing a general shortage of residential properties for both purchase and rental, and various players in the industry have long been demanding an increase in housing supply, but the national context has made it difficult to achieve this goal at various levels, and constant changes in legislation have left their marks. "A country with unstable politics will have great difficulty in gaining investor confidence," warns Qinglei Dai, vice president and co-founder of a construction company, in an interview with idealista/news.

Among the projects developed by LC are Park Avenue, Ouro Grand, Off Liberdade and, most recently, Clássica. In the Azores, there is another megaproject that has been a long time coming - the complete restoration of the former Monte Palace Hotel into "a five-star establishment to meet the growing tourist demand in the region," says the executive.

Despite all this, LC promises to stay in Portugal.

Qinglei Dai confirms that the company is "considering projects outside the center of Lisbon" and says that they have recently set up an "investment fund" through which they plan to "invest another 30 million euros in the next years" in real estate. And he says that private investors could be part of the solution to Portugal's housing crisis, leaving a suggestion to the government of António Costa: "Regarding the policy of affordable housing for purchase and rent, I believe that suitable solutions can be found where foreign funds can be used to benefit local families. For example, the government could invite investors with Golden Visa to invest in housing funds with yields that will solve the housing problems for the local population."