There Are at Least 44,000 Degraded Buildings in Lisbon That Require Renovations

15 March 2018

Greater Lisbon has at least 44,000 degraded buildings, 10,000 of which are in the city centre. But Lisbon is not the only area in Portugal that has properties requiring intervention. There are about a million buildings throughout the country in need of remodelling works.

“Public investment alone is not enough to generate the amount of funding required to meet these needs,” Dina Ferreira, a member of the executive committee of the Urban Rehabilitation and Revitalization Financial Instrument (IFRRU 2020) told the Diário de Notícias.

During a debate on the IFRRU 2020 Renovate to Revitalise, sponsored by Santander Totta in conjunction with the Global Media Group – the official spoke of the IFRRU’s merits, stressing that “it has managed to leverage Portugal 2020’s initial allocation of 100 million euros 14 times,” by combining public and private investment.

Since applications for financing were opened on October 30, 43 requests for funding have been received, for investments worth 128 million euros. The fact that it is not necessary to set up a company to apply for funding is one the principal reasons for the program’s success, according to Ms Ferreira. But there’s more. IFRRU has 1.4 billion euros in potential financing to support urban rehabilitation projects on properties that are at least 30 years old, an unprecedented targeting of urban rehabilitation projects.

“The 1.4 billion euros won’t be enough for all of the funding requests,” António Fontes, director for Santander construction development sector, stated. The executive also revealed that more than half of the funding requests for Lisbon – about 52% – concern tourism, an industry that has boosted social and economic development in a number of areas in Portugal’s capital.

Original Story: Idealista

Photo: Creative Commons

Translation: Richard Turner