90 homes already allocated – and ready by the first quarter of 2024 – 49 to be built in Montenegro, 22, for social housing, which will begin to be built soon, and two projects, for Estoi and Braciais, with new features next year. This is the current portrait of the “1º Direito” program in the municipality of Faro.
The municipality took advantage of City Day, celebrated this Thursday, September 7th, to launch another project in the housing area.
This involves the construction of 22 dwellings, for social housing, in two different buildings, on Rua Ludovico Menezes, close to the Liceu de Faro.
The contract was signed yesterday and the work, which represents an investment of around 2,8 million euros, will begin “in the next few days”, shortly after the consignment act.
With an execution period of a year and a half, these houses are different from those that are almost ready, on Estrada da Nossa Senhora da Saúde, and whose allocation draw has already taken place.
«These 22 homes will be owned by the municipality. In the case of controlled costs, housing remains for the people. Here, what we will do is then hold a competition for the award», explained Rogério Bacalhau, president of the Chamber of Faro, to journalists.
«There will be a so-called supported income, defined according to the household income. Whoever has less income will be ahead. Using a formula and previously defined regulations, there will be a list and those who come first will have the fireworks,” he added.
In this case, the work also has a particularity: in one of the two buildings, there will be an area destined for the Lethes Theater Group, which “for more than 30 years” was waiting for a property.
«It will be an equipment with an auditorium, work areas and offices», explained Rogério Bacalhau.
Asked about the current picture of the 1º Direito program, which supports access to housing, launched by the Government and which is being implemented by local authorities, the Farense mayor took the opportunity to take stock.
The 90 cost-controlled houses being built on Estrada Nossa Senhora da Saúde, close to the Health Center, are almost finished.
«In one of the blocks, there is the prospect of completing them in December and then the others in the first quarter of 2024. It would be great if, in January, we were delivering half of the dwellings and, in April, the rest», said the mayor.
Otherwise These houses have even been allocated, in a public draw, after almost 800 applications were received. “This is no longer a concern for us: it’s a matter of months”, she summarized.
In Montenegro, another 49 homes are being built to relocate fishermen from Praia de Faro.
The first stone was even laid by the Prime Minister and, according to Rogério Bacalhau, the work is «progressing very well» and should be completed «within the year».
For Estoi and Braciais, projects are also being “drawn up, in terms of urbanization” for the construction of another 275 and 70 dwellings at controlled costs, respectively.
«I hope, this year, to have the projects completed, so that later, with financing from the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU), construction of the urbanization and buildings begins, but it will only be in 2024 that there may be new developments».
In Rogério Bacalhau's opinion, the partnership with the IHRU and the financing of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) are «fundamental» in order to move forward with this investment in housing.
«The construction of dwellings is not the responsibility of the municipality, but of the Government. What all municipalities are doing is that we are on the ground, we know the needs. If it weren't for the IHRU and the financing, we would not have the financial capacity – in the case of Faro, we are talking about more than 80 million investments in the coming years», exemplified Rogério Bacalhau.
The mayor also opened the door to purchasing houses that have already been built, despite this being a more difficult area.
«I don't have much hope, because we don't have many houses available, despite there being an IHRU line that finances us in the acquisition of houses for sublease», he said.
As there are no more projects for now, the mayor also defended that the housing problem can be resolved by the “combination” of the public and private sectors.
«In this strategy of ours, there is a component that is ours, but private companies also work. We currently have hundreds of homes being built in Faro and this will help with the housing problem. The public issue should, in my opinion, be understood in the sense of making homes available to those with fewer resources and regulating the market", he considered.
«It is not worth thinking that only the private sector solves the problem or that the public sector solves the problem alone: we must have a combination of both sectors here to create responses to the needs of the population», he concluded.
The launching ceremony of these 22 social housing units was attended by minister Marina Gonçalves.
The governor, holder of the Housing portfolio, also spoke of the importance of having a «strategy that has to be defined not only by the municipalities, but in conjunction with the central State».
«We are certain and convinced, when we see this work, that this is the path, this is really the work that is asked of us, this is the structural reform that needs to be carried out», he concluded.
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