Almost 84% of the municipalities are developing Local Housing Strategies, under the scope of the 1st Law program, having identified 77 thousand families living in undignified conditions, updated the Minister of Housing today, in the Portuguese Parliament.
In a regular hearing in the Economy, Public Works, Planning and Housing Committee, Marina Gonçalves presented the updated data, until July 3, of the 1st Right, a program created in 2018 to find solutions for the 26,000 families with housing needs identified to date.
The housing solutions for these 26,000 families will be funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), with 1,200 million euros, until 2026.
During the presentation to the deputies, the minister mentioned that 258 municipalities currently have Local Housing Strategies under execution (84% of the country’s 308 municipalities).
The number of houses delivered remains the same in relation to April, when the minister made the previous balance of the 1st Law in parliament, but the number of dwellings under construction or being built increased to 7,500.
Also the number of houses that should be delivered by the end of 2023, under the 1st Right, increased from 1,000 to 1,300 houses, added the minister.
During the hearing, Marina Gonçalves said that there are “more than 10 thousand” candidates to the April contest, still under analysis, to Porta 65, a program previously intended to support young people in the payment of rent, but that the Government has extended to other age groups, provided that in situations of vulnerability (drop in income exceeding 20% or single parent families).
Marina Gonçalves also said that “in the next few weeks” the first contracts of the “Rent to sublet” program will be signed, in the scope of which the State will propose the voluntary renting of properties to private individuals – vacant and ready to live houses – and then sublet these houses to families with maximum effort rates of 35%.
The houses will be rented by the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU), which guarantees the punctual payment of rents and, when the contract ends, delivers the houses in the same conditions in which it received them.
“More Housing” Program now available for consultation until March 10
