Erik Vlieger arrived in the Algarve around 20 years ago, where he mainly invested in housing and hospitality through Carvoeiro Branco. But the Dutch businessman never gave up on his “dream” of creating a national company that would take affordable housing further, to areas such as Lisbon, Coimbra and Porto. It was with this mission that the real estate developer Antrix was born this year, with the “goal of building 10,000 homes” at “low prices”, revealed Erik Vlieger, CEO of Antrix and Carvoeiro Branco. “Portugal needs homes for the Portuguese,” he emphasizes in an interview with idealista/news.

Building affordable housing is, therefore, Antrix’s main mission. The company is already analysing projects in various parts of the country, such as Montijo, Setúbal and Alcochete, which should begin to bear “fruit” as early as 2026. And to make this possible, construction at scale will be necessary: “The idea is to create housing in quantity, with lower margins and more affordable prices,” says Pedro Limbert, commercial and marketing director at Antrix and Carvoeiro Branco, who views the possible reduction of VAT on construction to 6% “positively”.

“Rehabilitation is very important, because one of the biggest problems in Portuguese cities is the ruins,” says Erik Vlieger, CEO of Antrix and Carvoeiro Branco.

For now, the young real estate developer has been investing alongside its parent company Carvoeiro Branco in mixed-use real estate projects in the Algarve. And they have a particular characteristic: the recovery of old factories. Such is the case of Fábrica Bela Olhão, which gave way to the Bela Formosa project with a hotel, tourist and residential homes, shops and a conference centre. And Fábrica do Inglês in Silves, a cultural centre that will have “offices, the Cork Museum, a small boutique hotel, restaurants and also some housing,” explains Pedro Limbert.

The desire to give new life to factories or other abandoned buildings is also at the core of Antrix, which does not intend to stop here. For the Dutch businessman and founder of the real estate developer, “rehabilitation is very important, because one of the biggest problems in Portuguese cities is the existence of ruins. And, sometimes, nobody knows who owns them. It’s time for the Portuguese State to create a law to tackle this problem,” he urges in this joint interview with idealista/news.

New real estate developer

(Caption: Erik Vlieger, CEO of Antrix and Carvoeiro Branco, and Pedro Limbert, commercial director at Antrix and Carvoeiro Branco — Credits: Gonçalo Lopes | idealista/news)

Erik de Vlieger has lived in Portugal for about 20 years. How do you assess the evolution of the Portuguese real estate market during this period?

Erik de Vlieger [EV]: The Algarve has a very different economy from the rest of Portugal; it’s very tourism-oriented. And we have a problem in the Algarve — which is also somewhat irritating. My peers, for example, in Vilamoura, are building apartments priced between 1 million and 2 million euros. But when they need a gardener to take care of outdoor spaces, they need a Portuguese worker who earns around 900 euros per month. And the problem is that this gardener also needs an affordable home to live in — and it doesn’t exist. So Carvoeiro Branco has the responsibility of developing homes for the Portuguese as well. There are real estate developers from Lisbon, as well as Americans and Spaniards who come to the Algarve only to make a profit and forget that they also have the responsibility to build homes for the Portuguese.

“Portugal needs homes for the Portuguese, not only for foreigners,” says Erik de Vlieger.

In June 2025, you created the real estate developer Antrix. What does this company bring that is new to the Portuguese housing market?

EV: I always dreamed of creating a Portuguese company with projects in Porto, Lisbon, Setúbal, Montijo, Carnaxide, Coimbra… But the reality is that I am 65 years old. At Antrix we have three partners and also my son, who is 35. And when we created it, I told them I would work in the company for two years and then leave to focus solely on Carvoeiro Branco in the Algarve, between Sagres and Vila Real de Santo António.

Across the group, we currently have a construction portfolio of 1,750 units, with a total projected sales value of one billion euros. Antrix is a national company with the goal of building 10,000 homes. It’s a market for homes priced between 200,000 and 400,000 euros — in quantity, it is possible. We also talked to a construction company to create a joint venture to promote affordable construction, because Portugal needs homes for the Portuguese and not just for foreigners. That’s very important.

Residential construction in Portugal

(Caption: PrimeLife development, Carvoeiro — Credits: Gonçalo Lopes | idealista/news)

Will investing in housing be your main focus at Antrix? In which areas of the country do you already have projects under negotiation?

EV: In the Algarve, we have resorts, hotels and also low-priced housing. In the region of Setúbal, Montijo and Moita, it will be exclusively residential. We’re not talking about buildings with 30 or 50 apartments, but rather larger quantities, with smaller profit margins. In the first or second quarters of 2026, I’m convinced we will buy positions in northern Alentejo.

Pedro Limbert [PL]: We are currently negotiating more positions in Central Algarve with Carvoeiro Branco. And with Antrix, we are analysing projects in Montijo, Setúbal, and Alcochete, which we hope will bear fruit starting next year. Residential projects south of Lisbon will certainly also follow the logic of more affordable housing. It will depend on the projects we get approved, on where we’re able to build. But the idea is also to create large-scale housing, with lower margins and more accessible prices.

“I don’t know when yet, but we will invest in student housing in Coimbra,” says Erik de Vlieger.

In the residential segment, do you plan to diversify the offer toward student accommodation or coliving, for example?

EV: In Coimbra, yes — it’s my favourite Portuguese city. The student market is small and cheap, which makes it very difficult, and the solution will come through scale. In the Netherlands, for example, there are container houses and wooden houses that are rented to students for two or three years. I don’t know when yet, but we will invest in student housing in Coimbra.

Urban rehabilitation

(Caption: Bela Formosa project, born from the redevelopment of Fábrica Bela Olhão — Credits: Antrix | Carvoeiro Branco)

Does Antrix already have homes under construction in its Algarve projects, such as Bela Formosa?

PL: We don’t yet have any homes under construction at Antrix. We acquired the Bela Formosa project which, unfortunately, was not ready for construction, so we are currently overcoming bureaucratic issues. We expect to complete the project and submit it to the municipality at the beginning of next year, at which point we will prepare the launch.

In the Bela Formosa project in Olhão, we will have 434 keys. These will be hotel rooms, tourist apartments and residential apartments aimed at an upper-middle-class audience, both Portuguese and international. We’re talking about a residential project built above the water, which obviously has higher acquisition and construction costs and therefore requires slightly higher pricing. In others, it will be different.

“[The VAT reduction to 6% on construction] can undoubtedly help developers invest, because it reduces investment costs,”

— Pedro Limbert, commercial & marketing director at Antrix and Carvoeiro Branco

Antrix plans to build affordable homes. How do you view the recent housing measures announced by the Government, namely the VAT reduction to 6% on the construction of homes to be sold for up to 648,000 euros?

PL: It can undoubtedly help developers invest, because it reduces investment costs. From the perspective of Carvoeiro Branco and Antrix, it is a measure that allows us to continue doing what was already one of our goals: building affordable housing. And of course, it gives us more margin to do so. We view this measure positively. Nevertheless, the measure is attached to the attempt to increase supply and reduce house prices, but much more needs to be done — namely streamlining processes and speeding them up. That’s where the real benefit lies.

For example, at Carvoeiro Branco we have the Vale da Pipa project, in the northern area of Lagoa, with 304 affordable apartments. We have been working with the municipality and surrounding entities for four years to get it approved. That's four years of costs and work to deliver housing to those who need it — and it is still not approved. We hope this project will be approved very soon.

Urban licensing

(Caption: Vale da Pipa Residence, Lagoa — Credits: Carvoeiro Branco)

What motivates you to take on the redevelopment of old factories, such as Fábrica Bela Olhão and Fábrica do Inglês in Silves? What are the main motivations and challenges?

PL: Our motivation is linked to the fact that city centres have been abandoned, left in ruins. Fábrica do Inglês was abandoned for 15 years, despite having been renovated in the early 2000s. After more than a year of work, we are very pleased to have completed, in September, the purchase of Fábrica do Inglês. It is a culturally very important space for the Algarve and for Silves. The idea is to preserve all the heritage and all the existing buildings, but to renew a space that has already created so many memories for so many people, and brought joy to many. Reopening the museum, which I think is very important for the Algarve — because we don’t have many cultural spaces like the Cork Museum — is one of our priorities.

So, we have this desire to rehabilitate. And we will not stop here. I also challenge the owners of abandoned factories in the Algarve — and beyond — to talk to us, as we may be interested in helping and developing these sites. This is one of our missions, and almost a hallmark of our identity.

“Mixed-use always brings diversity and a more complete experience to the developments we build,”

— Pedro Limbert

Is investing in mixed-use real estate projects one of your focuses? Why?

PL: Mixed-use always brings diversity and a more complete experience to the development we build. When it’s possible, we do it. Often this is in tourist projects. The presence of a hotel or tourist apartments naturally creates associated services. In residential projects such as Bela Olhão, there is also a requirement in the detailed plan to have a hotel unit. Therefore, sometimes it’s also a matter of urban planning rules, although it does make sense to us, as it allows us to serve different needs and create a more complete experience.

In the case of Bela Olhão, there will be a hotel, tourist apartments, residential units, shops and a conference centre, all by the riverfront. And in Fábrica do Inglês, we will also have offices, the museum, a small boutique hotel, restaurants and also some housing. And we intend to continue doing this, because we believe it serves the community in the best way.

Rehabilitating old factories

(Caption: Fábrica do Inglês, Silves — Credits: Gonçalo Lopes | idealista/news)

So in Fábrica do Inglês, in Silves, you also have housing planned?

PL: Exactly. Fábrica do Inglês has several 19th-century buildings that will be fully preserved. There is the museum, the west building and two other buildings where we will install our office. There is a central building, the tea house, which is currently completely deteriorated, so we will begin immediate work to preserve what exists.

Fábrica do Inglês also has an area created during its reconstruction in 1998 or 1999 by the group that bought it at the time and transformed it into a cultural entertainment space, where they had tents and held shows. It will be in this area, which currently has no buildings, that we will create some housing within the complex. Therefore, it will be a complex open to the public but also private, where the daily life of workers, residents, visitors and hotel/office users will intersect. It will be an extremely unique project in the Algarve and even nationally. We are even preparing a short film about Fábrica do Inglês that will be released soon.

“For large developments (…) we decided to work with builders from the North, who have more specialised and complete teams,”

— Pedro Limbert

With several projects underway at Carvoeiro Branco and Antrix, how have you dealt with the issue of labour shortages in construction?

PL: At the level of our internal workforce, 90% of our employees are from the Algarve, and our intention is to provide excellent working conditions and a distinguished, fun, integrated and respectful work environment, so we manage to attract and retain talent.

Regarding the workforce for the construction of our developments, we also have our own construction company for projects up to about 100 units. We build internally and there we face the challenge of labour shortages and sometimes need to resort to subcontractors. We know that much of the current workforce in the construction sector comes from outside the country and that, in some cases, they are even more qualified than the labour we have here. And we are aware and satisfied that this continues, because the construction sector truly needs it.

For large developments, we do not build internally. We also decided not to build with local builders anymore, precisely due to the lack of infrastructure in the Algarve, which prevents local companies from having enough labour to handle developments of that size. Note that the Algarve is not exactly a cheap place to live. So, we decided to work with builders from the North, who have more specialised and complete teams to meet the demands of our constructions.

Construction Labour

(Caption: Foundations of The Court, Carvoeiro, project by Antrix and Carvoeiro Branco — Credits: Gonçalo Lopes | idealista/news)

What is your perspective on the evolution of supply, demand and house prices next year?

EV: I don’t have a crystal ball. Many think that house prices in Portugal will hit a certain ceiling, but I believe they will rise much further. In the Algarve, there are very few construction licences due to bureaucracy — and the bureaucracy here is very dangerous. And we cannot continue building as we have always done in the Algarve; it is no longer possible at this point.

“It’s time for the Portuguese State to create a law to tackle this problem [of ruins], it’s very important,” says Erik de Vlieger.

Could high-rise construction be a solution in the Algarve? And rehabilitation?

EV: Yes, in Faro, Portimão and Albufeira I see no problem building upwards. But for the rest of the Algarve, no — it’s better to build lower, as in Carvoeiro, Lagos… We need to be careful with our coast.

Rehabilitation is very important, because one of the biggest problems in Portuguese cities is the presence of ruins. And sometimes nobody knows who the owners are. It’s time for the Portuguese State to create a law to tackle this issue — it’s very important. For example, in any European country, when a property has been in ruins for five years, the Government can expropriate it. In Portugal, that is very difficult due to very strong and democratic laws.

Housing in the Algarve

(Caption: Vale de Milho Village, Carvoeiro — Credits: Gonçalo Lopes | idealista/news)

What are Antrix’s future plans in the country and abroad (how much do you intend to invest, and in which areas and segments)?

PL: For Portugal, the plan is to develop the projects we already have in the Algarve, such as Bela Formosa and Fábrica do Inglês, and continue national expansion into Lisbon, the South Bank, Montijo, Alcochete and Setúbal. We want to do this starting next year. We will build at scale and our goal is 10,000 homes. It will take several years to get there, but we want to do it consistently, in a structured and responsible way. But for now, we are at the beginning. We already have two very strong positions within Antrix, with around 600 units to develop. Across the whole group, it almost reaches 1,800. Abroad, the plans are still not very clear.

EV: The projects planned for southeastern Spain are residential and hospitality, in line with Carvoeiro Branco, but with an office and headquarters in the country. At the moment, with the new tax rules in Spain, many foreign buyers are no longer purchasing there, but instead buying in Portugal. The current Spanish government is being good for Portugal.