This process received 334 eligible applications from a total of 1,133 submitted, the council announced.

Various locations

The homes are located in various parts of the municipality, and the draw, which took place on Monday, enabled the council to carry out “the largest handover of keys ever undertaken by the Loulé Council”, the council stated in a press release.

New life to families

The homes that will offer a new life to these families are mainly in Loulé (100). They are on plots recently acquired by the local authority in the Clona housing estate and in some scattered housing around the town. There are also homes in the village of Salir (12) and in the towns of Quarteira (3) and Almancil (2), the Faro District Council clarified.

Record-breaking operation

The council described the allocation of public social housing in the municipality as a “record-breaking operation.” Despite this, it assured that it remains “determined to alleviate the housing crisis affecting the region and the country.”

The Mayor of Loulé, Telmo Pinto, stated that the draw allows dozens of families access to decent housing. However, he said it leaves local councillors with a “bittersweet feeling” because “there is still much work to be done” in a “key area of municipal policy” such as housing.

“I feel more sympathy for those who will not receive a home than for those who will. But our commitment is to continue working to ensure that everyone is provided for as soon as possible. We have already started new projects because we know that this is the top priority and the greatest need that families have,” assured the mayor, as quoted in the council’s statement.

Immediate measures for people in need

The council pointed out that residents facing difficulties in accessing housing have access to “other more immediate measures, such as rent support”, a subsidy that already covers 349 households in the municipality, it stated.

When Loulé’s Local Housing Strategy (ELH) was drawn up in 2019, there were 234 municipal housing units in the municipality, the Algarve council noted.

“Since then, this supply has almost doubled, with 170 homes having been handed over to those in need, and a further 36 homes for affordable rent will soon be allocated by lottery,” he added.

With a timeframe extending to 2032, Loulé’s ELH is being implemented under the 1º Direito programme, in collaboration with the Institute for Housing and Urban Regeneration (IHRU), with European funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), and provides for “the continued construction and refurbishment of homes across the municipal area, with a target of 2,000 households benefiting” in the municipality’s 11 parishes, it noted.