The municipal council of Loulé has formally acquired 60 housing units for public rental in a €15.1 million investment backed largely by national recovery funds.
The public deed was signed on Wednesday, February 25 at Loulé town hall in a ceremony presided over by Secretary of State for Housing, Patrícia Gonçalves Costa.
Located in the eastern part of the town, the already-built homes are spread across three plots. Of the total, 10% are one-bedroom (T1), 35% two-bedroom (T2) and 55% three-bedroom (T3) units. The properties will be allocated under supported rent schemes to families in situations of “greater socio-economic vulnerability”.
The total investment amounts to €15,117,773.16, with 85% funded through non-repayable support from Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and the remaining 15% financed by the municipality.
The acquisition forms part of the municipality’s Local Housing Strategy 2019–2032 and falls under the 1.º Direito programme, agreed in October 2020 between the town hall and the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU).
“We are taking another important step to respond to one of the main problems in our territory, which is the lack of housing. It was thanks to institutional and cooperative dialogue with the government and the IHRU that it was possible to unlock these 60 homes that were at risk of being lost,” said Mayor Telmo Pinto.
1,500 homes targeted
During the ceremony, the mayor announced a broader goal: reaching 1,500 housing solutions across the municipality within the next four years.
To overcome the entire bureaucratic process, procedures are being prepared to contract both the design and the construction of the works externally, which the mayor says “will allow us, in one go, to reach a greater scale,” adding that the first tenders are expected to be launched within the next two months.
The municipality also plans to continue providing financial support for rentals, expanding the number of families benefiting from public housing.
Eligible families have already been identified for the new homes, with a draw scheduled for late March or early April to allocate the first 150 properties. Some units will also be reserved as service housing for specific professional groups, including teachers and members of the security forces.
At the event, Patrícia Gonçalves Costa praised the municipality’s work.
“The Local Housing Strategy of the municipality of Loulé shows the ambition and rigour with which work has been carried out,” the secretary of state said, noting that 21 applications have been submitted, representing around €31 million in investment and 185 homes, potentially benefiting “500, 600, perhaps 1,000 people.” So far, 78% of the programme has been executed.
“Public housing is this – social stability, the fulfilment of life projects for these families. It is about securing families with good housing conditions and the right to the city, which is very important for territories to be resilient,” she added.
Despite Portugal having only 2% of its housing stock in the public sector, the secretary of state argued that numbers are improving.
“Public housing cannot be destined only for historically deprived families; it is also for the middle class, for teachers, for all those who at a given moment cannot access the private market,” she said.
For his part, Telmo Pinto underlined the central role of housing in the municipality’s policies.
“Housing is truly a priority for us. Our housing budget stands at €60 million and our commitment is to reach 1,500 homes in the next four years. We are ambitious and we believe it is possible!”
After the ceremony, the secretary of state and the municipal executive toured a show apartment and reviewed other housing projects currently in progress under the Local Housing Strategy, namely the Clona development and the refurbishment and expansion of homes in the Frederico Ulrich neighbourhood.
