Empty homes should pay more taxes. Social justice and livable cities

I estimate that approximately 15% of Lisbon's homes (48,000) are unused, and to this number we must add the 7.2% in Local Accommodation (more than 18,000). This means that approximately one in five homes in Lisbon (22.2%) is not available for permanent housing for city residents—either vacant or dedicated to tourism.

This is a significant number that helps explain the pressure on the Lisbon housing market. When more than one-fifth of the housing stock is unaffordable for permanent residence in a city experiencing a housing crisis, this creates an artificial scarcity that contributes to rising prices and difficulties in accessing housing.

The 66,256 properties represent a substantial amount of housing that, if available on the permanent rental market, could significantly alleviate the housing pressure faced by Lisbon residents. At the same time, thousands of Lisbon residents and young people face unaffordable housing prices, luxury rents, and neighborhoods that are being transformed into museums or long-term investments ("casas banco"). This reality cannot continue to be tolerated.

All problems have a solution: the problem of empty houses in Lisbon is no exception. And it's relatively simple, and is already being implemented in several European cities: increase taxes on vacant properties. I'm not talking about confiscating private property, banning vacant houses, coercive leasing, or any interference with property rights. What I'm advocating in these lines is creating uncomfortable financial conditions for choosing to keep a house empty for months or years, whether through speculation, abandonment, or pure and simple disinterest. Creating this discomfort by choosing precisely where our inefficient State proves effective and functional: through taxation.

I'm not talking about something radical, or something never before attempted. Paris, for example, has applied a special tax on vacant properties since 2015 (which increased in 2017), which currently can reach up to 60% of the property's potential rental value. In Berlin, owners who leave homes empty risk heavy fines and even temporary expropriation, as happened with buildings that were systematically vacant. Barcelona requires large property owners to put vacant properties on the social rental market, under penalty of direct public intervention. In particular, the Catalan city has taken action against investment funds that accumulate vacant homes, imposing large fines on them.

Outside Europe, Vancouver introduced an "Empty Homes Tax" that reduced the number of vacant properties by more than 25% in just three years. Since 2017, this rate has increased three times, from 1% to 3% (2021).

Portugal, by contrast, continues to allow vacant properties to be maintained almost free of charge. The result? A stagnant market, a lack of affordable supply, and lifeless urban planning. The country has had fewer new housing projects in the last five years than any other developed country. And what does exist is not used as housing, but as an asset.

The truth is simple: as long as it's cheap to maintain empty homes, that's what many will continue to do. And the losers are all of us: especially those who want to live, work, and raise families in cities.

Even some socially conscious homeowners have already admitted this: "I have a house in Lisbon where I only live part of the year. I think it's fair to pay more taxes for it," a foreign investor recently stated on X/Twitter. Unlike many, he understands the impact of his choice.

Housing cannot be treated like gold in a vault. It must be treated as an essential asset. Lisbon, and Portugal, need political courage to follow Europe's example. Those with vacant properties must pay more. Those who want to live in cities cannot continue to pay the price of inertia. Owning a home is not just a form of property or an investment: it is a social duty to live in and for the community and contribute to its development, ensuring that others can also benefit from their property.

Rui Martins is the founder of the Movement for Participatory Democracy