EU and Portuguese Gov’t to Invest Billions in Housing

20 October 2020The Portuguese government will set aside 1.633 billion euros to invest in housing through the European Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), according to Minister Pedro Nuno Santos. Most of the investments will be channelled into social and emergency/temporary housing.

The program has three main foci: social vulnerability, productive potential and employment, competitiveness and territorial cohesion. The government’s sixteen initiatives in the post-pandemic era include the 1st Law, a programme which directs aid towards families suffering from a shortage of housing, following a report in 2018 that identified 25,762 families in over 187 municipalities in “clearly unsatisfactory” conditions.

Another measure, the National Plan for Urgent and Temporary Accommodation, will create a national grant for urgent and temporary accommodationa for refugees, immigrants, and victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, among others. The Recovery and Resilience Plan will provide Portugal with a total of €12.9 billion in outright grants and €15.7 billion in loans between 2021 and 2026.

Original Story: Economia Online – Rita Neto

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner