The European capital where a rent triples the country’s minimum wage

“The landlady has been after me since 2018, she says she needs my apartment and I have already received an eviction notice.”

Georgina Simões is a caregiver in a nursing home in the Portuguese capital Lisbon. She earns just above minimum wage.

His rent, 300 euros ($321) a month, is low by the city’s current standards, but he still has to work two jobs to pay it. And the conditions on the ground are bad: You can’t take a shower because the water is leaking into the neighbour’s apartment.

“I’m not leaving because if I look for other houses, my salary isn’t enough, not even to pay the rent. The rents are above the salaries we have in Portugal”, he noted.

Simões’ circumstances are far from unique. The average rent in Lisbon is now around $2,140, ​​while the minimum wage is around $814.

The causes of the crisis

Portugal is currently facing a serious housing crisis, partly caused by an increase in foreign investment in real estate and a lack of new affordable housing.

But it’s not just a matter of supply. Researcher and activist Rita Silva, who helped create the Habita housing movement, claimed that there are “more houses than people, but prices are not going down”.

The expert added that the current situation, which has led to numerous campaigns demanding more affordable housing, has spread across the country for several years after the 2008 financial crisis.

The case of Simões, the caretaker, is already in court and she hopes to stay on her property for another six months. Your lawyer is trying let him win that time.

What happens if he loses? asked the BBC.

“I’m on the Street”replied.

“I don’t stand a chance, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I just need a roof to sleep under; I spend my life at work,” he added.

extreme sacrifices

Joelsy Pacheco, for his part, juggles two jobs that take up 16 hours of his day. One of his jobs is in an intensive care unit of one of the main hospitals in Lisbon and the other in an NGO.

“Most of my salary goes towards rent, not to mention bills, food and transportation. With one job it would be almost impossible”, he shared.

Pacheco’s lease expires at the end of this year and he fears his rent will go up.

“Where would I go after that? It’s quite possible that I have to move back in with my motheraway from work, and I will have to restructure my whole life, ”he admitted.

Earlier this year, Portuguese comedian and activist Diogo Faro inadvertently became one of the faces of the affordable housing movement after posting a video on social media about rising rents in Lisbon.

Soon his inbox was flooded with messages.

“There are divorced couples who can’t move because they can’t afford it, which I think is brutal. Seniors who have to choose between paying rent or taking medicines, that is shorten their lives to have a roof“, said.

As he received more and more stories like this, the comedian got together with some friends and started the Casa é um Direito (“Housing is a Right”) movement.

His and other movements planned a demonstration last April that drew more than 30,000 people to the streets of Lisbon. The protests later spread to other cities, such as Porto and Braga.

“We have called the protests ‘A house to live in’ because people are desperate. People want a house to rest, to play with their children, to live,” says Faro, who sees this as only the beginning of the battle.

Tourism is one of the culprits

Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas described the housing problem as “the biggest crisis of our generation”.

He made the remark in April, as construction began on a new affordable rental project in Entrecampos, a central part of the Portuguese capital, which will create 152 new homes.

Programs have also been set up to help those who cannot afford the high rents, and local authorities offer to pay a third of the costsaid Filipa Roseta, Lisbon’s Councilor for Housing and Development.

One third of Lisbon’s historic center is emptyaccording to geographer and housing researcher Luís Mendes, and recent cases suggest that the state is exacerbating the situation.

When some slums were destroyed in March, eight families were left homeless and had to go to emergency shelters.

“We are talking about rents in Lisbon that higher than in some of the wealthier parts of Berlinfor example where there has been a rent ceiling. Not to mention the difference in wages,” Mendes said.

“In Lisbon, there are areas where a house of 80 square meters costs $1,285 per month. Well, that’s the average salary for a resident of Lisbon. So we are talking about unaffordable amounts, I would even say obscene”, added the expert.

Mendes claimed that one of the factors for the current housing crisis the country is experiencing is what he calls “tourism” which happens when, due to the increase in tourism, houses designed for residential use are used to accommodate temporary visitors. accommodate.

Areas such as the historic neighborhood of Alfama, known as the cradle of Fado, now have 60% of their properties for short-term rental.

“What are the tourists going to see? Each other?”joked Faro.

speculative investors

Then there are government measures aimed at attracting foreign investment through tax-free programs for investment funds, digital nomads, and most importantly, golden visas.

“Golden visas allow investors from outside the European Union (EU) obtain a visa to stay in Portugal to investand that allows them to enter the Schengen area (the EU countries that have no borders between them),” explains Mendes.

“Often, [los beneficiarios de las visas doradas] they remodel a house, but don’t occupy it. These properties are often sold over and over again, which disrupts the real estate market and is one of the causes of the housing crisis,” said the expert.

As part of a new housing program, the government is ending golden visas and short-term rental permits, and limiting rent increases to 2%.

However, for the majority of citizens, these measures are scarce and far too late.