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The Housing Market Heats Up in Seixal

18 February 2019

An excess of vacant homes was once a serious problem in Seixal, but the municipality is now looking to use the properties to boost the supply of housing in the region. Idealista/news studied the market, noting that the stock of residential housing is already undergoing a process of dynamisation in the county on the South Bank of the Tagus River. Developers are building an increasing number of homes for the middle class, as well as for wealthier clients – both Portuguese and international – while the municipality to beginning to rehouse some of the neediest families.

In this municipality on the other side of the river from Portugal’s capital city of Lisbon, there are currently about 88,000 homes and a huge range of offerings on the residential market, ranging from dense and well-consolidated urban areas to low-density zones, old urban centres and high-quality residential dwellings. So far, the area still suffers from an elevated number of vacant housing, which the local authority is committed to resolving.

Factors behind the rise in prices

Following the growth in the Portuguese housing market as a whole, and especially in the large centres of Lisbon and Porto, “[average] prices have risen in the old urban centre of Seixal, particularly on the riverside,” the mayor of Seixal, Joaquim Santos, told idealista/news. The mayor stressed that “it’s not surprising that this area has been rehabilitated and now has a fresh look.”

According to the mayor, the redevelopment is largely due to Seixal’s “proximity to Lisbon and its vast transportation and communication networks and the natural heritage” that is making the area on the South Bank of the Tagus “an increasingly advanced and competitive region, which has led to increased interest in the county and an influx of new residents.

Inspired by the redevelopment of the old urban centre of Seixal, the municipality announced that it will now move ahead with a similar process in the old urban centre Arrentela, followed by investments in Amora and Paio Pires.

Mayor Santos acknowledged that the municipality is “aware of the existence of a significant number of vacant houses in the county,” which is why the local authority “is working on a system to identify the properties and their owners, in order to get them to put them to use.” The process is especially important because “we are concerned about getting younger people, who are suffering from the rise of prices, to stay in the area.”

Attract new inhabitants

The municipality is also looking to develop a “new model for social rehousing” based on “relocating families to already existing homes.” In December of 2018, almost 190 people were relocated from the Vale de Chícharos to existing flats in the county.

Original Story: Idealista – Carla Celestino

Translation and editing: Richard Turner