Key figures — as of 2026-09-13: 40,148 mortgages signed with the State's youth guarantee between January 2025 and June 2026, equal to 25% of all home loan contracts in Portugal over that period — Q2 2026 alone saw 7,776 guaranteed contracts worth €1,730.9 million, up 13.5% in number and 17.5% in value on the previous quarter — the €905m original budget was topped up by €750m in April 2026 to €2.3 billion after demand outpaced supply — no nationality restriction applies, only Portuguese tax residence.
A quarter of the mortgage market, and rising
The number that should catch any foreign resident's attention isn't the size of the fund — it's the share of the market it now covers. Since young people first gained access to this scheme, 40,148 guaranteed contracts have been signed, accounting for 25 per cent of all contracts formalised over a year and a half, from January 2025 to June 2026, according to data from the Bank of Portugal. Among borrowers under 35 specifically, the guarantee's footprint is even bigger: 51.3% of the amount contracted by young people up to 35 in a recent quarter came through the State guarantee, corresponding to €1,500 million, and by Q2 2026 that had climbed further, with the guarantee representing 51.3% of the number of contracts and 53.5% of the value contracted by young people up to 35 in the period.
The pace is accelerating, not levelling off. Contracts concluded between banks and private customers for the purchase of owner-occupied, permanent homes under the scheme rose 13.5% in Q2 2026 compared with the previous quarter, with 7,776 contracts formalised totalling €1,730.9 million. Demand ran so far ahead of the original allocation that the Government announced a reinforcement of €750 million in April, raising the guarantee to €2.3 billion, justified by the strong take-up of the initiative. By the end of June, 1,146 million euros had been used, or 56% of the total amount allocated until that date by the State for the housing guarantee scheme.
How it actually works — and who qualifies
Introduced under Decree-Law 44/2024, the mechanism is simple: the State acts as guarantor for banks, covering up to 15% of the transaction value so lenders can finance 100% of a first home without the buyer putting down a deposit. Eligibility runs 18 to 35 years old, first permanent residence only, property capped at €450,000, and taxable income no higher than the 8th IRS bracket — roughly €80,000–€83,700 depending on the year's brackets. Contracts must be signed by 31 December 2026, with no confirmed extension yet on the table.
The detail that matters most for GrowIN's readers is the eligibility test itself. The only limitation on access to the measure concerns having tax residence in the country, while nationality is not covered. In practice this has already pulled in foreign buyers: a significant number of foreigners are buying homes under the public guarantee, and just as with the IMT and stamp duty exemptions, there are no nationality restrictions on the young people — they simply need Portuguese tax domicile and to meet the scheme's other requirements. Reporting on the take-up found Brazilian and PALOP nationals filing the largest number of applications, followed by Americans, with one bank disclosing that roughly a tenth of its approved applicants were foreign, the large majority Brazilian.
GrowIN's read on the numbers
Divide the Q2 2026 totals and the average guaranteed loan comes out at roughly €222,600 (€1,730.9m across 7,776 contracts) — a figure the official releases don't spell out but that frames what's realistically on offer under the €450,000 cap. On a loan that size, a typical Portuguese bank down payment of 10–20% would otherwise have meant finding €22,000–€44,000 in cash before even reaching notary costs. That's the gap the guarantee is closing, and it's precisely the gap that stops many newly arrived foreign residents — who often have income but no local savings history or property collateral — from qualifying for a mortgage at all.
"For a foreign tax resident under 35 with a Portuguese payslip but no local deposit, this guarantee is currently the single biggest lever on whether they can buy at all," says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
What to watch
The scheme's popularity is also its vulnerability. Analysts have flagged rising risk concentration among guaranteed borrowers alongside a Euribor that fixed above 2.8% in July 2026, the highest level since the start of the year — a rate rise that doesn't change under the guarantee, since the expansion doesn't alter the interest rate applied to the loan, it only removes the requirement for an initial deposit, so the monthly instalment cost stays subject to each bank's conditions. With no confirmed renewal past 31 December 2026, anyone planning a first purchase under this route — resident or newly arrived foreigner — should treat the current window as finite rather than assume it rolls over automatically.
Before applying, confirm current fiscal residence status, income bracket thresholds and NIF requirements through our tax and NIF guide, and speak to a mortgage intermediary or bank directly, since eligibility under the decree-law does not oblige any institution to actually grant the loan. GrowIN's property services team can help foreign buyers assess eligibility and timing before the scheme's deadline.