The Tondela City Council applied for projects worth more than 4.9 million euros (ME) to the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), with the aim of making available 47 dwellings foreseen in its Local Housing Strategy.
The councilor responsible for Social Action and Housing, Vera Machado, explained today that the Local Housing Strategy finalized in 2020 has 42 different measures, some of which can be financed, with the municipality advancing with several applications until March 31st within the scope of the PRR.
“It’s not just about presenting a financial cake. More important than the financial pie is knowing exactly where the needs are and filling them quickly and effectively, giving dignity to these families”, he stressed.
According to Vera Machado, “Social Action services currently have around 30 requests for housing, some of which qualify as social housing, others as affordable rentals”.
Of these requests, 65% “are in the União de Freguesias Tondela Nandufe and the most necessary typologies are T1 and T3”, said the councilor, adding that these are “mostly Portuguese families and as employees”.
The president of the Tondela City Council, Carla Antunes Borges, highlighted that applications to the PRR are very important because they will allow new responses to the housing needs of this municipality in the district of Viseu.
One of the buildings that the municipality wants to requalify is the old Pensão Matos, in the historic center of the city of Tondela, which will benefit from an intervention worth 1.7 million euros.
In this building alone, which the municipality purchased for more than 200 thousand euros, 13 apartments will appear, which will be placed on the market with affordable rents, depending on the families’ effort rates.
Carla Antunes Borges highlighted that, with the Local Housing Strategy, the municipality also intends to “contribute so that urban centers, namely this area surrounding the Town Hall, gain new dynamics”, attracting “more people to live in the historic center”, which will then help bring local commerce to life.
The Chamber also purchased seven properties from private parties (six in the municipality headquarters and one in Molelos) which will be placed on an affordable rental exchange, to be managed by the Social Action services. Today, promising purchase and sale contracts for these homes were signed, which will soon become available and which represented an investment of 778 thousand euros.
“We do not have these applications approved. We are very excited about its approval, but this has not limited us in acquiring the properties we acquired with our own income. Our expectation is that these applications will have 100% funding so that we can have a quick, active and operational response”, stated Carla Antunes Borges.
Within the scope of the 1st Law program, 14 applications were submitted, an investment of 977 thousand euros that will benefit needy households in 10 parishes in the municipality.
The rental of two properties for subletting (an annual investment of 30 thousand euros) and affordable housing projects within the scope of a protocol between the Viseu Dão Lafões Intermunicipal Community and the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation, with the support of municipality, other candidacies were presented.
In the case of the latest projects, work is planned to be carried out in 11 dwellings made available by four parish councils, projects estimated at 1.4 million euros that have already been approved by the PRR.
Vera Machado stressed that the Local Housing Strategy is “a dynamic instrument”, which is “permanently adapting and updating”, and recalled that, since 2020, there have been many social and demographic changes.
“We are preparing more applications, whether as a beneficiary entity or as direct beneficiaries”, said the councilor, promising news soon.
