Sines mayor warns housing shortage is alarming investors

Sines mayor Álvaro Beijinha told ECO/Local Online that major investors in the Portuguese industrial and port hub are increasingly concerned about housing shortages and weak infrastructure, warning that the problem could undermine projects that are important not just for the municipality but for Portugal’s wider economy.

Beijinha said announced investments in Sines already total more than €20 billion and could bring at least 7,000 workers to the area by 2030. He said the local rental market is already under severe pressure, with rents around €2,000 or more and sale prices reaching about €5,000 per square metre in some parts of the city.

According to the mayor, companies are trying to find their own solutions. He said CALB has secured land in Santo André for a 700-room hotel and, through a real estate company, bought another plot for more than 70 homes. He added that Start Campus and other large groups are also worried and are looking at housing options because they may otherwise struggle to bring in workers from outside the region.

Beijinha argued that central governments over the past seven to eight years failed to plan for the impact of these investments on housing and public services. He said Sines also lacks adequate transport links, pointing to a motorway project that has been delayed for years and the absence of passenger rail services since the early 1990s, despite the area’s strategic importance.

The mayor said the municipality “does not have the financial capacity to solve the problem on its own”. He estimated that building 5,000 homes would require about €1 billion, while Sines city hall has €12 million earmarked for total investment in its 2026 budget. He also said the local public secondary school is full, with student numbers rising from nearly 400 to more than 700 in the past eight or nine years.

Originally published at Eco.pt