HOUSING SUPPORT POLICIES IN PANDEMIC TIMES AND INTERRELATIONS WITH INSTITUTIONAL TRUST: A MIXED-METHODS APPROACH

Housing was crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, as “staying at home” was the first line of defense against the virus. To reduce the economic downturn’s impact on housing security, preventive and supportive measures were developed, such as moratoria on rents and mortgages. This paper aims to analyze the opinions of tenants and indebted homeowners about the housing support policies implemented during the pandemic crisis and explore the relation with the level of trust in institutions — an aspect not yet studied. A mixed-methods approach is used based on quantitative and qualitative data from a nationwide online survey conducted in 2021. Quantitative data was analyzed using the software SPSS, and qualitative data was analyzed through thematic analysis. Thematic analysis of 377 answers to open questions (e.g., “What is your opinion on the exceptional financial regime for payment of rents?”) shows that homeowners’ opinions (positive or negative) are mainly supported by their perceptions of the effectiveness of measures introduced to protect families from economic shocks resulting from the pandemic. For tenants, besides effectiveness, opinions are also determined by evaluation of the quality-of-service delivery and responsiveness. Variance analysis shows that tenants with a positive opinion tend to present higher levels of trust in public institutions compared to those with an unfavorable opinion. The study shows that housing support measures during COVID-19 in Portugal were met with mixed trust levels, with positive views linked to higher institutional trust and negative perceptions tied to concerns over fairness, efficiency, and long-term impacts. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of effective policy design and implementation in times of crisis and the psychosocial consequences of not achieving envisioned aims.