By dreamsforce.com

The government of Portugal has stopped the 'Golden Visa' scheme. The country made this announcement amid a housing crisis.

Golden Visa was introduced in Portugal in 2012. Under this package, a person who is not a citizen of a European Union (EU) country and invests in Portugal in other sectors, including the housing sector, will be given an EU passport. Around 30,000 foreign nationals have been allowed to enter Portugal since it was introduced.

Rents and house prices in Portugal have skyrocketed by the day. In Portugal, people's incomes have decreased over the past year. More than 50 percent of workers earned less than one thousand euros per month. But in the meantime, rents in the capital Lisbon alone have increased by 37 percent.

Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced a 900 million euro fund to deal with the crisis. He said a system will be introduced to curb the rise in rent. In other words, the government will give tax incentives to the owners of the houses that are used by tourists. In addition, no license will be issued to new establishments focusing on tourist accommodation such as Airbnb.

To address the housing shortage, Antonio Costa said his government would rent empty homes directly from landlords for five years and rent them out to locals.