This sector, which in this year’s proposal included a budget of 36.3 million euros, continues to benefit from substantial community funding through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), as per the preliminary plans and budget for 2026 accessed by Lusa.
By combining the PRR with regional investment, conditions are ensured for promoting a policy that facilitates housing solutions and access for young people, middle-class families, and the disadvantaged to homes appropriate to their incomes.
The proposals outline that the priorities of the Regional Government of the Azores (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) in 2026 include deepening a strategy for housing promotion, rehabilitation, and renewal, along with improvements to the existing legislative framework.
With the completion of the PRR, new housing units will be made available through construction and rehabilitation, which will help to strengthen medium and long-term responses to the existing shortage of affordable housing.
The Azorean government states that next year will maintain the trend of investment in affordable rentals and support for renting buildings and autonomous units, as well as resolving situations of severe housing shortage, particularly through renting or subletting.
The government of the Azores aims to promote direct support for families through the “Families with Future” program, offering greater flexibility and supervision, to prevent overcrowding, under-occupancy, or irregularities.
The executive insists that ongoing urban rehabilitation and associated investment remain crucial for expanding public housing availability, emphasizing that adapting support to the new economic and financial realities—logistics, labor, and raw material costs—requires a positive response from the region.
Thus, the revision of support ordinances “Renovated House, Inhabited House” and “Self-Construction” will continue to allow broader access for the new generations of the middle class, historically excluded from these support programs, enabling the development and implementation of new solutions for population retention.
The Azorean Plan and Budget for 2026 will be debated and voted on in November at the Regional Assembly.
The documents were sent on Tuesday by the Government of the Azores to the Island Councils and the Economic and Social Council, with the deadline for submission to the Regional Assembly set for October 30.
The macroeconomic forecasts of the Regional Government predict a GDP growth of 2% and 1.7% for the region in 2026 and 2027, respectively, along with an inflation rate within “reasonable limits” of 2.1% for the next year.
The regional GDP is expected to exceed 6 billion euros by the end of this year, with a projected 6.245 billion euros in 2026 and 6.470 billion euros in 2027.
The preliminary plans identify the execution of community funds as an “unavoidable target” and anticipate a total public investment of 1.191 billion euros, with 990.9 million of that being directly executed by the Regional Government.
The executive, which took office following the early legislative elections on February 4, 2024, governs the region without an absolute majority in the Azorean parliament and therefore requires the support of another party or parties with parliamentary seats to approve its proposals.
In the last regional legislative elections, PSD, CDS-PP, and PPM elected 26 deputies, falling three seats short of an absolute majority. The Socialist Party (PS) stands as the second-largest force in the archipelago with 23 mandates, followed by Chega with five. BE, IL, and PAN each elected one regional deputy, rounding out the 57 elected members.
