Housing institute chief questions whether today's young would match their grandparents' sacrifice for a home

Benjamim Pereira, head of Portugal's housing and urban renewal institute (IHRU), said in Vila Nova de Gaia he does not know whether today's society would accept the sacrifice earlier generations made to own a home. He recalled that his grandparents emigrated to Brazil and Argentina and his father worked abroad for 20 years, while denying he was telling young people to leave. He urged young people to organise in cooperatives, as some now in their 60s and 70s once did. He welcomed the protests, which began in Porto on 10 October, but said the problem is structural and will not be solved in the coming years. He backed a government decree on rental investment contracts and affordable rents.