State-Guaranteed Home Loans to Under-35s Near 2 Billion Euros in a Quarter, Over a Third of All New Mortgage Lending

Buyers aged 35 and under signed about 8,700 home loans backed by the State guarantee in the third quarter of 2026, worth almost 2.0 billion euros, according to figures the Banco de Portugal (the central bank) published on Thursday. Those loans made up 31.6 percent of all new mortgages for a permanent home signed in Portugal in the quarter, and 35.8 percent of the money lent.

Among young buyers, the guarantee now backs most of the market: 54.1 percent of permanent-home loans signed by people aged up to 35 in the quarter, and 56.0 percent of the amount they borrowed. The number of guaranteed contracts rose 11.5 percent on the second quarter, and the amount 13.2 percent.

What the new figures show

• From the start of the scheme to September, 48,900 guaranteed loans worth 10.3 billion euros have been signed: 46.6 percent of all permanent-home loans to under-35s by number and 49.0 percent by value.
• The Bank's monthly data table shows 2,953 guaranteed loans in August, the highest month so far, and 2,832 in September, worth 639.4 million euros.
• By The Brief's calculation from that table, the average guaranteed loan in the third quarter was about 226,000 euros, against about 200,000 euros a year earlier, and quarterly lending under the scheme was about 40 percent higher than in the third quarter of 2025.
• At the end of September, 1,420 million euros of guarantees were in use: 66.5 percent of the total the State had allocated to banks by then.

Take-up is highest away from the big cities. In the Alentejo, Beira Baixa, Terras de Trás-os-Montes, Beiras e Serra da Estrela and Lezíria do Tejo regions, more than 55 percent of permanent-home loans to young buyers carried the guarantee up to September. In Greater Lisbon and Madeira the share was about 40 percent. Greater Lisbon, the Porto Metropolitan Area and the Setúbal Peninsula account for about half of all guaranteed contracts. The data come from the Central de Responsabilidades de Crédito (the central bank's credit register), and the next update is due on 2 February 2027.

A ceiling that is nearly spoken for

The 66.5 percent figure measures use of the amount handed out to banks, not of the national ceiling. By The Brief's calculation, it implies roughly 2.1 billion euros had been allocated at the end of September. The national ceiling stands at 2,300 million euros, and a Treasury order on 20 October gave Caixa Geral de Depósitos another 95 million euros, which Público reported left less than 70 million unallocated. Each bank has its own share, and lenders that run dry need a top-up, as Novobanco and Montepio did in September. The central bank says the scheme covers loans signed until 31 December 2026.

Who qualifies

Under Decreto-Lei n.º 44/2024 (the decree-law that created the guarantee), regulated by Portaria n.º 236-A/2024 (the implementing ministerial order), every borrower on the loan must:

• be aged 18 to 35 and have tax residence in Portugal;
• have income no higher than the eighth bracket of IRS (personal income tax);
• own no urban residential property and never have used the guarantee before;
• be buying a first permanent home with a transaction value of no more than 450,000 euros.

Nationality is not a condition: the decree-law asks for tax residence. The State guarantees up to 15 percent of the transaction value so that the bank can lend between 85 and 100 percent of it. The guarantee lasts at most ten years, and if the borrower defaults it can be called before the bank pursues the borrower's or guarantors' assets.