Housing in Portugal is generally similar to housing in the rest of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. However, some specificities exist.

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

has the highest rate of

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

population in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, which means that roughly a third of the Portuguese families live in farms or properties outside urban areas. Another characteristic is that most of the urban population is actually

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

an. The metropolitan areas of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

and

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

each have over 2 million inhabitants. In these areas, families live in apartment blocs, each apartment usually having two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and one or two bathrooms. Most properties have been built since the 1970s, and especially since the turn of the millennium. This caused historical areas of Lisbon, Porto and other cities to become depopulated, though the younger generations now have a growing interest on buying and repairing these old buildings. The trendy district of

Bairro Alto Bairro Alto (; literally: ''Upper District'') is a central district of the city of Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. Unlike many of the civil parishes of Lisbon, this region can be commonly explained as a loose association of neighbourhoods, with no ...

, in Lisbon, is an example of this. Portuguese traditional architecture is quite similar to others of the Mediterranean, and whether a traditional country house or a suburban apartment bloc, Portuguese buildings and towns will look like those in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. This apart from the specificities of Portuguese architecture and its traditions, also excluding high rise projects inspired by the English Post-War tradition, the Socialist Bloc tradition and nowadays modern trends. Another strange, but somewhat common sight in Portugal, are the Swiss-like chalets, built by Portuguese people who lived in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. However, in recent years, traditional architecture is more popular. Over two thirds of all Portuguese property is owned by the resident. House renting is more common in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

and Aveiro, all of these cities having many students and foreign residents. Other areas where apartments are usually rented are sea resorts and the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

, this last region having many

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Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

residents. As of 2006, it costs around 500

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

to rent a T1 (one bedroom and a living room) apartment in Lisbon, and 90.000

to buy the same house. These prices force young couples and families to live in suburbs like

Amadora Amadora () is a municipality and urbanized city in the northwest of the Lisbon metropolitan area and 10 km from central Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 175,136, in an area of 23.78 km² (9.2 sq mi). It is the most densely populated mun ...

Odivelas Odivelas ( or ) is a city and a municipality in Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal, in the Lisbon District and the historical and cultural Estremadura Province. The municipality is located 10 km northwest of Lisbon. The present Mayor is Hugo ...

Almada Almada () is a city and a municipality in Portugal, located on the southern margin of the Tagus River, on the opposite side of the river from Lisbon. The two cities are connected by the 25 de Abril Bridge. The population in 2011 was 174,030, in a ...

, where housing is cheaper. However, luxury housing is an important market in Portugal, especially in the larger cities, as well as in Algarve,

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

and the South Bank of the

Tejo Tejo may refer to: *Tagus (Portuguese: ''Tejo''), a river on the Iberian Peninsula. *Tejo (sport), a sport and national pastime of Colombia. *Tejo (Argentina), a sport and national pastime of Argentina. *Tutmonda Esperantista Junulara Organizo (Wo ...

. All of the

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

market in Portugal is still recovering from a crisis, which means there are many empty houses in the suburbs, as well as construction firms in financial trouble. There are more houses in Portugal than the total population of 10 million individuals, since half of the Portuguese families own a country or holiday house, as well as many Europeans who choose to regularly spend their holidays in this

Southern European Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alba ...

country. Large projects of holiday housing featuring private beaches and golf resorts are very common in the South of the country.

Typologies

Real estate industry in Portugal usually divides housing units in two classes: apartments (''apartamento'' or ''andar'') and separate houses (''vivenda'' or ''moradia''). The apartments are classified in types T0, T1, T2, etc., that define the number of separate bedrooms. So a T0 means a

studio apartment A studio apartment, also known as a studio flat ( UK), a self-contained apartment (Nigeria), efficiency apartment, bed-sitter (Kenya) or bachelor apartment, is a small apartment (rarely a condo) in which the normal functions of a number of ro ...

(no separate bedrooms, with bedroom and sitting room combined in the same single room), while a T2 means an apartment with two separate bedrooms (plus a living room). Usually, T0 apartments have a

kitchenette A kitchenette is a small cooking area, which usually has a refrigerator and a microwave, but may have other appliances. In some motel and hotel rooms, small apartments, college dormitories, or office buildings, a kitchenette consists of a small ref ...

while T1 and above apartments usually have a

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a ...

as a separate room. When an apartment has additional small bedrooms (only allowing a single bed and/or without window), the quantity of these rooms appear in the typology after a "+" (e.g. T1+1, means an apartment with a normal bedroom plus a small bedroom). Separate houses are analogously classified, with a "V" prefix replacing the "T". So, a house with a living room and two bedrooms would be classified as V2. The typologies with higher and lower number of housing units are respectively the T3 and the T1. By the order of percentages, the typologies are: T3 (22,5%), T2 (20,6%), T4 (9,3%), T5 (8,9%), T1 (6,2%) and T0 (1,0%).Housing and Building Statistics in Portugal, Statistics Portugal
/ref>

References

{{Reflist Economy of Portugal Society of Portugal Real estate in Portugal