José Manuel Bolieiro announces tender for allocation of 144 land plots for housing construction
Ponta Delgada
Presidência do Governo Regional
The President of the Regional Government, José Manuel Bolieiro, announced in Ponta Delgada the launch of a public tender for the allocation of 144 serviced plots intended for the construction of permanent housing, as part of an initiative aimed at helping Azorean families to become homeowners and increasing the housing supply in the Region.
The announcement was made during a visit to the Biscoito housing development, parish of Feteiras, where he was accompanied by the Regional Secretary for Youth, Housing and Employment, Maria João Carreiro. At the site, work on the servicing of 32 new plots has recently been completed, representing an investment of about €1.4 million funded under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).
The public tender will be published in the Official Journal next Monday, March 16, with the application period running from Wednesday, March 18, and closing on April 10.
Overall, 144 serviced plots will be made available: 114 in São Miguel, six in Santa Maria, 10 in São Jorge and 14 in Flores.
According to José Manuel Bolieiro, this initiative aims to create practical conditions so that more families can move forward with their own housing projects.
“We are removing obstacles, providing predictability for investment and building confidence for those wishing to build their own home. Developing land means creating the right conditions for supply to increase and for the dream of home ownership to no longer be put on hold,” he said.
Out of the 144 plots now made available, 114 – around 80% – are the result of RRP investments, amounting to €5.5 million. The remaining plots, located on the islands of Flores, Santa Maria and São Jorge, have been developed using funds from the Budget of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (ORAA), representing an investment of nearly €1 million. Some of these plots had already been identified for nearly two decades, without ever having been made available to families.
The head of the Azorean Government emphasised that the measure also helps to retain the population in the Region and responds to the difficulties faced, particularly by young people, in accessing housing.
“We are turning dreams into reality. We want to create the conditions for young people to access their own homes, something that is particularly difficult today. What we are doing is making that path less difficult,” he highlighted.
The conditions for accessing the land allocation programme were recently revised under the ORAA 2026, expanding the range of eligible beneficiaries. These changes mean that more young couples are now eligible, including households with two children and a gross monthly income of up to €3,100, or couples with one child and an income of up to €2,850.
In addition to land allocation, beneficiaries will be able to access other forms of public support. A non-repayable grant of up to €5,000 is available for the acquisition of architectural designs and specialist services, as well as support for self-build projects that can reach €75,000, depending on the household structure and income, and the type of housing.
This strategy forms part of the Regional Government’s efforts to increase housing supply and reduce the existing housing shortage in the Region. The Regional Government maintains its goals of creating around 2,000 new housing units over the next decade, involving housing cooperatives and local authorities.
In this context, the Council of the Government recently approved the construction of 16 new houses in Sete Cidades, municipality of Ponta Delgada, corresponding to an investment of €3.1 million outside the scope of the RRP, with further similar projects expected to follow.
