New lease with purchase option scheme reduces burden on Azoreans seeking access to housing - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Juventude, Habitação e Emprego

The new lease with purchase option scheme, recently approved by the Council of the Government, will contribute to reducing the burden on Azoreans in accessing housing, according to the Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment.

This scheme will allow households, including young, middle-class and single-parent families, to benefit from the housing solutions being built under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) for the Azores and the Regional Budget at prices compatible with their income.

This is the case of the 13 new single-family houses nearing completion in the São Brás housing development, municipality of Praia da Vitória, on Terceira Island – eight are two-bedroom houses, four are three-bedroom houses, and the other is a four-bedroom house  – representing an investment of 2.1 million Euros, as confirmed by Maria João Carreiro during her visit to the site.

On the occasion, the Regional Secretary also announced that a public tender is expected to be launched in August for the allocation of these new houses on a lease with purchase option scheme. The purchase option can only be exercised by the tenant one year after signing the lease agreement.

According to Maria João Carreiro, 80% of the procedures for the construction and renovation of the 272 housing units under the RRP for Terceira Island, corresponding to an overall investment of 25.5 million Euros, have already been completed or are currently underway. This has been achieved "notwithstanding the significant technical and procedural work that needed to be done, and the constraints in the construction market."

The government official explained that 53% of these new housing solutions in Terceira will be made available on a lease with purchase option scheme. 

"This Government has made a clear choice and is being consistent in implementing a new housing policy. It is fair, inclusive and appropriate not only to the serious housing shortages but also to social groups such as the middle class and young people, who today face greater difficulties in accessing housing," she stressed.

As Maria João Carreiro stressed, "the Region could have more immediate responses if it had not been for the disinvestment of previous governments in housing construction and renovation, which led to shortages in the public housing stock."

The visit to the São Brás housing development was attended by, among others, the Mayor of Praia da Vitória, Vânia Ferreira, members of the Azores Legislative Assembly, Nídia Inácio and Paulo Chaves, and the Regional Director for Housing, Daniel Pavão.