O Portuguese government intends to invest 512 million euros in the construction of a public housing park at affordable costswith funds from the State Budget, the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and a loan from the European Investment Bank (bei).
It is Financing comes after a reduction in PRR goals, which initially predicted the construction of 6,800 dwellings, but is now limited to 3,500 due to the low demand from municipalities.
According to the resolution of the Council of Ministers published this Wednesday, the PRR will fund 463.16 million euros for the new housing. The executive justified the reprogramming with “the low demand from the municipalities” that “prevents the realization of all housing defined in PRR”.
The remaining 3,300 dwellings, which will not be covered by PRR, will be funded by national sourceswith an estimated financial impact of 436.7 million euros. The document also mentions that VAT supported in the projects will be reimbursed by the State.
Furthermore, The government has signed a loan agreement with bei to support the construction and rehabilitation of up to 12,000 affordable housingtotaling 1.34 billion euros, but only 450 million euros have been hired so far.
The Executive clarified that the BEI loan does not cover 100% of expenses, nor VAT, and that expenses with acquisition of land or buildings are not eligible for financing.
Thus, the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU) will be responsible for managing the financial charges by 2030, with the amounts to be scheduled annually, as indicated by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers.