Luís Montenegro made the announcement in a statement to the country from his official residence in São Bento, Lisbon, following weeks of demonstrations and so-called encampments in Lisbon and Porto protesting against housing costs, which have already led to several police charges.

“I spoke today [3 November] with the leaders of the two largest opposition parties about housing and invited them to come here with their teams to present their ideas and proposals, with the aim of furthering the transformation currently underway in the sector,” he said.

Montenegro specified that the meetings with André Ventura and José Luís Carneiro would take place in two days' time, immediately after his return from Madrid, where he will attend the Ibero-American Summit on 4 and 5 November, alongside the President of the Republic.

The Prime Minister also announced that he had instructed the Ministers of State and Finance and Infrastructure and Housing, together with the Ministers of the Presidency and Parliamentary Affairs, to establish “the same dialogue with the other political parties represented in Parliament”.

“Political dialogue on housing is not new, but it is now taking place following the legislative process on rental housing, which is currently being considered by Parliament, as well as the numerous interventions by political parties in the context of the public debate that this issue has generated and continues to generate in Portuguese society,” he said.

The Prime Minister argued that the new legal framework for rental housing, which has been one of the central targets of the protests, “is fundamental to ensuring consistency in housing policy”.

“It should have as much consensus as possible to be approved and, more than that, consensus that will make it sustainable within our rental legal framework,” he said, explaining that “bringing the two largest opposition parties closer together is highly desirable”.

Asked whether a Council of State meeting convened by President António José Seguro on social cohesion had been necessary to prompt this attempt at rapprochement, Montenegro replied that “the Government did not wake up to the need for political dialogue now”.

“The Government has, naturally, been engaging in and encouraging this dialogue from the very beginning,” he said.

He also issued an appeal: “We do not have to agree on everything, but [it is desirable] to have greater adherence to legislative principles that can be implemented over several years to produce results,” he explained.

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