The Algarve reinforces its position in housing policies in Portugal, with the municipalities of Loulé and Portimão among the 20 best national performers in access to financing from the 1º Direito program – Support Program for Access to Housing, according to data updated on December 19th by the portal The Accountant. This program is financed through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
According to the platform created by architects Aitor Varea Oro, Helena Roseta and Sílvia Jorge, which monitors housing financing data, 1.76 billion euros have already been contracted across the country. Lisbon leads in value (232 million euros), while Oeiras stands out in the number of homes financed, followed by Setúbal, Matosinhos and Vila Nova de Gaia.
Loulé and Portimão appear alongside other municipalities such as Maia, Loures, Sintra and Coimbra, reinforcing the importance of the Algarve in this scenario.
Rehabilitation as a priority
At a national level, two thirds of the houses financed by the PRR are intended exclusively for the rehabilitation of the existing public housing stock, a reality that reflects the conditions of the properties, according to architect Helena Roseta. “The bulk are not new houses,” he explained. This focus on rehabilitation is also relevant in the Algarve, where improving social neighborhoods and other public properties is a priority.
However, Roseta emphasizes that rehabilitation, although necessary, “does not increase the housing stock”, which could limit the objectives of expanding the public housing supply.
Race against time
With the requirement to complete the works by June 30, 2026, municipalities face a race against time. According to the architect, “we are entering 2025 and the houses have to be delivered by June 2026. It’s a mad race”. This urgency puts additional pressure on municipalities, including Loulé and Portimão, which need to streamline processes to meet defined deadlines and objectives.
The performance of Loulé and Portimão is a positive indicator for the Algarve region, which continues to face challenges in access to housing. PRR funds represent an unprecedented opportunity to increase the quality and quantity of the public housing stock, but effective resource management and adaptation to local realities will be crucial to success.
Another piece of data that can be obtained from consulting the O Contador portal concerns the different types of intervention by municipalities to carry out financing.
For example, Setúbal is investing everything in the rehabilitation (of assets that are already public), while Vila Nova de Gaia is more focused on acquiring dwellings.
“It is positive that rehabilitation is being carried out, we know the complaints in social neighborhoods, with works to be done. But this does not increase the housing stock and this objective will not be achieved”, anticipates Helena Roseta.
The national portrait updated on December 19th by the portal reveals that, of the 59,337 houses applied for (26,007 to the PRR and the remaining 33,330 to be financed through the State Budget, until 2030), almost two thirds will use the money exclusively for rehabilitation.
“This denotes the state of our public housing stock”, explains Helena Roseta, highlighting that “the bulk are, therefore, not new houses”.
As an example of municipalities that are below what would be expected, the architect cites Almada or Amadora, which “would need much more” and which ended up applying for fewer buildings within the PRR than outside (these were only partially financed).
“We don’t have complete explanations for this, but there was a period when the IHRU [Instituto da Habitação e Reabilitação Urbana] it paralyzed the entire process”, he recalls, adding that he offered to share his data with the mission structure for the PRR and with the IHRU, but the offer was not accepted.
Faced with this scenario, the architect leaves some advice: “There has never been so much prepared to create popular housing, which is very positive, but we need to think about what will be done with the many more applications than there is money available”.
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