António Costa, the prime minister of Portugal, announced a series of measures to combat housing problems in Portugal. These measures are included within the “Mais Habitação” plan that focuses on five axes: increasing the housing supply, simplifying the procedures when granting licenses, expanding the affordable rental market, fighting against real estate speculation, and helping families obtain home loans and good rental terms. With the anti-speculation measures, the prime minister stated he would end the Golden Visa foreign investor program as well as suspend the acceptance of new applications. However, it is important to emphasize that despite the prime minister’s declaration, the foreign investment program is still valid and active. Given this scenario, Victor Espinosa, senior director of LCR Capital Partners, commented that the Golden Visa was mentioned only in the context of other investments that were far more relevant to the issue of speculation. Regarding real estate investment funds and hotel renovations, we will have to wait for a much more detailed proposal to be evaluated and to give us certainty about what will happen.
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