Portugal’s Constitutional Court has rejected the possibility of a referendum on existing tourist leases in residential blocks in Lisbon.
The Movement for a Housing Referendum (MRH) had submitted a request to the Portuguese Constitutional Court to hold a referendum on existing tourist rentals in residential areas of Lisbon. The MRH aimed to eliminate the nearly 20,000 short-term holiday rentals in the Portuguese capital, hoping to free up apartments for affordable housing for locals.
The court ruled against the referendum request, citing the inability to effectively verify the signatures of those who signed the petition. The petition was signed by over 6,600 locals, as well as around 4,400 who had left their homes in Lisbon due to the high cost of living.
The City Council asked the Constitutional Court to rule
The issue was discussed at the Lisbon City Council on December 3, 2024, but it was deemed necessary to seek a preventive opinion on the legality of the referendum from the Constitutional Court.
Representatives of short-term rental properties supported the court’s decision, arguing that the referendum was illegal and contained “irreparable flaws.”
On the other hand, the Movement for a Housing Referendum described the Constitutional Court’s decision as a “hard blow to participatory democracy” and pledged to reformulate the proposal to resubmit it to the court.
Although it does not want to completely eliminate short-term rentals in Lisbon, the housing movement believes that banning them in residential buildings will help address the city’s housing crisis and help more residents stay in their homes.
In November, the Portuguese government announced that it was revoking the restrictions imposed by the previous socialist government at the national level, as its decree 76/2024 officially came into force. The decree revokes the mandatory renewals of short-term rental licenses and restrictions on new registrations, while restoring the power to make decisions on licenses and registrations to municipal councils.
Additionally, the legislative decree repeals the automatic expiration of inactive licenses and the scheduled reassessment of existing licenses in 2030. Furthermore, it repeals the “absolute power” of the majority of apartment owners in apartment buildings to cancel or refuse licenses without justification.