Throughout Europe, since the 1980s, there has been a progressive decline in public investment in affordable housing, accompanied by deregulation of the real estate market. Today, while the so-called “new housing crisis” affects mostly the middle class, access to home ownership is unaffordable for many households, especially younger ones.

As a reaction to this situation, the Portuguese government, through the National Housing Pro- gram (Law 2/2024), has set a target for 2026 of strengthening the public housing stock by providing 26,000 housing solutions for those who cannot afford to access them through the market. To this end, the Institute for Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU) has launched twenty-six design tenders, which correspond to a total of 2,816 homes built under the Controlled Cost Housing (HCC) scheme and intended for rental under the Affordable Rental Program (PAA).

Despite these conditions, several architectural studios have entered these competitions, winning some and losing others. This talk with Alexandra Areia, architect and researcher, explores the responses of three studios – Fala Atelier, Inês Lobo Arquitectos, and Figueiredo+Pena – to some of the challenges launched by the IHRU. By analyz- ing different proposals, it reflects on how we think about and aim to conceive affordable housing in Portugal today.