Portugal Offloads Idle Offices to Build 59,000 Affordable Homes

Portugal’s government has decided to turn idle office space into sorely needed euros for new homes. By putting 16 state-owned buildings in Lisbon and Porto up for sale, officials expect to raise €1.215 B that will be channelled straight into affordable-housing programmes. The first apartments financed by that cash could begin appearing before the decade ends—if the bureaucracy that freed the properties can keep its own timetable.

Why sell government real estate at all?

Fewer than ten years ago, most ministries rented offices scattered across the capital, paying commercial rates while thousands of civil-service desks sat empty after the last austerity-era downsizing. A new policy reverses that logic: shift public bodies into the refurbished Campus XXI hub and convert redundant buildings into capital for public housing rather than a maintenance expense. The mechanism was written into law on 23 October, allowing ministries to stay put free of charge only until the end of 2027. Everything vacated after that deadline must either help create housing directly or finance it indirectly.

Where the money will go—and how it could soften rents

Budget planners have already allocated the anticipated windfall. Roughly €800 M will top up grants that subsidise rent for households priced out of the private market; €360 M will bankroll the expansion of the parque público de habitação a custos acessíveis; more modest slices—€28 M and €10 M—are reserved for emergency accommodation and the rehabilitation of older stock. In tandem with a €1.34 B credit line for municipalities, the sales revenue forms the financial backbone of a pledge to deliver 59 000 new or renovated public homes nationwide within six years. Economists at Nova SBE estimate that, if construction targets are met, average asking rents in Lisbon and Porto could dip 5-8 % by 2028.

The addresses on the auction list

Lisbon contributes the lion’s share: a sandstone block on Rua do Professor Gomes Teixeira, twin façades along Avenida da República, river-view offices on Avenida 24 de Julho, and the once-grand headquarters of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Campo de Ourique, among others. Across the Douro, Porto district adds six sites, from the Quinta de Sergude in Felgueiras to disused warehouses in Campanhã and a cluster of lots in Matosinhos. Independent valuers will set minimum prices early next year, after which the Finance and Housing ministries will open competitive tenders. Officials privately expect site-by-site sales to wrap up before December 2026.

Campus XXI: the relocation that unlocks the deal

Moving nearly 100 public entities into a single complex was once dismissed as logistical fantasy. Today, half the Cabinet already signs paperwork inside the former Caixa Geral de Depósitos headquarters off Avenida João XXI. Parliament capped renovation costs at €16.5 M, yet the Finance Ministry predicts annual savings of €20 M in rent, security and fleet management—enough to recoup the investment within one legislative term. The last CGD floors will be handed over in 2026, synchronising the great department shuffle with the property auctions that depend on it.

Debate: cash now or social rent later?

Housing activists grouped under the banner Porta a Porta insist the state is sacrificing long-term public-housing assets for a quick fiscal fix. They cite the Fundo Nacional de Reabilitação do Edificado as proof that government can refurbish derelict buildings without selling them. Treasury officials counter that outright disposal delivers up-front liquidity and spares taxpayers decades of maintenance costs. A compromise proposal—leasing the properties instead of selling—failed to gain traction in committee debates last summer.

What happens next and why deadlines matter

The clock is already ticking. Two independent valuations per asset must be finished this winter. Public tenders are scheduled for spring. Winning bids should be signed before year-end 2026, giving developers 2027 to secure permits. If that chain of events holds, the first adaptive-reuse apartments could open in early 2028, dovetailing with EU-funded green-building targets. Should any link break—slow relocation, delayed auctions, budget overruns—the housing gap that has dogged Portugal’s largest cities for a decade will remain painfully wide. But if the plan stays on schedule, residents from Amadora to Vila Nova de Gaia might finally see government downsizing translate into front-door keys they can afford.