Chega presses Government and PS to write housing tax relief into 2027 budget

Tax relief at the centre of the package

On Wednesday, 4 November 2026, Chega said the housing measures should be written into the 2027 State Budget (OE2027) rather than handled separately. André Ventura plans to take a package of proposals to Prime Minister Luís Montenegro on Thursday, 5 November. The two core proposals amend personal income tax (IRS). The first would bring back the deduction of interest on home loans taken to buy a permanent home, capped at 1,200 euros a year and open to people up to 35. The second would raise the share of rent that taxpayers can deduct from 15% to 25% of the total.

Current deduction15%

Proposed deduction25%

Current deduction

15 %

Proposed deduction

25 %

Data from the article text

Ventura described the interest deduction as a matter of the most elementary justice. Diário de Notícias reported that the package also includes a capital gains exemption for sellers of immediately habitable homes, with a sale value between 300,000 and 400,000 euros. Other items would extend the 6% VAT rate to all new construction regardless of use or licensing date, and waive compensation payments in licensing for housing intended for rent. Chega also proposes releasing national ecological and agricultural reserve land in urban areas for affordable rental housing, and putting inventoried state buildings in habitable condition onto the market. Ventura argued those state buildings should not stay with public bodies whose work is not known.

Budget rule as the sticking point

Ventura's central argument is that the proposals carry evident budget impact and therefore must pass through the specialty phase of the 2027 budget. Without that, he warned, they would be blocked by the lei-travão, the budget rule that bars increases in spending or cuts in public revenue. On Wednesday Ventura criticised Montenegro's address to the country on the evening of Tuesday, 3 November, saying:

“The prime minister spoke late, without conviction, and did not present a single measure that could solve the problem.”

Ventura said he accepted the challenge to present measures, but stressed that most of them aim to make Portuguese people less burdened by taxes, which is why the discussion cannot be detached from the budget process. He also said the prime minister had called for the three main parties to seek solutions on housing, a process he argued cannot be separated from the budget.

“A discussion cannot be disconnected from the other.”

Socialist proposals and Chega's conditions

The Socialist Party (PS) will put five proposals into the budget discussion, including a moratorium on lease contracts that end by the end of next year and a public guarantee on rentals. Chega said it could accept and analyse the guarantee for young people. Ventura made reciprocity a condition, particularly on income tax deductions for home loans and rents, while saying his party is willing to make concessions and even accept proposals from other forces. He also said the prime minister had asked the Finance Ministry to assess the budget impact of the public guarantee. Left-wing parties keep demanding withdrawal of the new rent law, which is not part of the State Budget.

Timetable and next steps

Montenegro is due to hear the proposals in separate meetings with Chega and the PS on Thursday, 5 November. On Friday, 6 November, Chega has requested a technical meeting with the Finance Ministry. Its team would include shadow finance minister Rui Teixeira Santos, budget committee chairman Rui Afonso and party coordinator Eduardo Teixeira, and it aims to reach a consensus with the government so the proposals cannot later be dismissed as impossible to carry out. The parties have until Friday, 6 November, to submit amendments to the 2027 budget. Chega's stated aim is to ease household costs from January.