Licensing Applications Filed for 46,340 New Homes in 2020

1 March 2021 – Ana Custódio

During 2020, almost 20,000 applications for new housing projects were filed on mainland Portugal, for a total of more than 46,000 dwellings. Those figures represent a decrease of 2% in relation to 2019, while the number of new projects is up by 5% year-on-year. The lion’s share of applications came in Porto and Lisbon.

The data was provided by Confidencial Imobiliário, based on energy pre-certificates issued by Portugal’s energy regulator, ADENE. Developers and individuals submitted applications for a total of 19,955 new housing projects throughout the country, including 46,340 dwellings. In 2019, there were 19,040 projects for 47,150 new homes.

Eighty per cent (16,035 projects and 37,410 dwellings) of the total consists of new construction. The remaining 20% refers to rehabilitation works, including 3,920 projects and 8,930 homes.

According to a regional analysis by Confidencial Imobiliário, Porto and Lisbon continued to be the primary investment targets in new residential development. Porto reported around 480 projects (3,350 homes), while Lisbon’s pipeline included about 400 new projects (3,700 homes). However, the figures in both in Invicta, as Porto is affectionately known, and the capital are down from 2019: 17% less in Porto and 16% less in Lisbon in terms of the number of dwellings.

The analysis also highlighted the municipalities of Matosinhos and Vila Nova de Gaia in terms of new residential development, with both reporting pipelines of around 1,650 dwellings.  The cities of Braga and Cascais followed with 1,200 units, with Vila Nova de Famalicão (1,030 units) rounding out the list. However, the data does not state how many of the applications were eventually approved.

Translation: Richard Turner