Birth support and affordable housing to settle families in Mondim de Basto

The Mondim de Basto Chamber is focusing on establishing families in the municipality, through a birth incentive, given to 71 children, and the reinforcement of housing for affordable rental, the president said today.

To try to stop the decline in birth rates, the Vila Real district municipality implemented support of 2,250 euros in 2023 for each child, which is paid in three annual installments of 750 euros and which 71 children now benefit from.

“It is important support for families and significant for the municipality which, with its budget, is able to invest 72 thousand euros to help families”, the mayor, Bruno Ferreira, told Lusa news agency.

The first delivery of the incentive in 2024 took place on Friday and covered 71 children born in 2022, 2023 and also this year.

“This measure aims to help young couples in the municipality provide a happy and healthy development for their children, alleviating the costs associated with parenthood”, stated the mayor.

Bruno Ferreira said that, in 2021, only 23 babies were born in the municipality of Mondim de Basto and, therefore, there was an “urgency to react” and create a program to support families.

But, he added, to retain and attract more people to the municipality, the municipality wants to go further and reinforce the Local Housing Strategy for the 100 homes.

“Access to housing is essential for settling people and we are committed to this review of the strategy so that we can create as many homes as possible”, he highlighted.

The goal is one hundred homes, either in new construction or in building rehabilitation.

Bruno Ferreira mentioned that the renovation of an old hotel was recently awarded, in the center of the town of Mondim de Basto, where 18 affordable homes will be created.

The intervention will be carried out as part of an application submitted to the 1st Law program (Support Program for Access to Housing), contracted with the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU).

This is the first step, but, according to the mayor, the municipality’s objective is to significantly reinforce the housing stock available in the municipality.

According to the 2021 census, Mondim de Basto lost 6,410 residents (14.45%) in a decade.

The Trás-os-Montes district lost almost 21,000 inhabitants in the last decade and had, at the time of the 2021 census, 185,695 residents, a demographic decrease that affected its 14 municipalities.