Multitude of Homes Distributed to Families Residences
The 1.º Direito - Programa de Apoio ao Acesso à Habitação, a key initiative aimed at providing decent and adequate housing for the neediest families and vulnerable groups, has undergone significant updates in 2025.
In a bid to expand its scope, the program was altered in March-April 2025 to finance an additional 33,000 public homes that were not covered by the original Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR). This expansion marks a significant step towards addressing the housing needs of more Portuguese families.
Specific changes on April 4, 2025, introduced a special co-financing regime for housing solutions outside the PRR budget. This move is expected to accelerate housing access within this and coming years.
The Portuguese government is actively supporting construction projects. For instance, an investment of €3.4 million in Ponta Delgada is funding the development of 24 apartments, indicating ongoing housing development aligned with the program.
While exact numbers of homes delivered under the 1.º Direito program as of August 2025 were not detailed, recent news reports suggest that thousands of houses have been handed over to families, signalling steady progress in housing delivery.
However, detailed statistics on total homes delivered under this program and demolition impact remain unavailable in the current search results.
The 1.º Direito program was integrated into the PRR in 2021. The first 26,000 homes must be completed by 2026 and will receive non-refundable funding totaling €2.174 billion (PRR and State Budget).
The municipalities receiving homes in July 2023 include Alcácer do Sal, Anadia, Lisbon, Moita, Tábua, Melgaço, and Funchal (Madeira). A total of 8,000 homes are expected to be delivered by December 2023.
Another approximately 33,000 homes will be funded solely by the State Budget with a budget of 2.011 million and a deadline until 2030. The completion of the 59,000 homes under the 1.º Direito program represents a global investment of €4.2 billion in public housing, of which €2.8 billion will come from the State Budget and €1.4 billion from RRP funds.
To accelerate the achievement of the PRR target and unlock applications for the program managed by the IHRU, "Terms of Responsibility and Acceptance" have been implemented with the municipalities.
The government is working to present measures in September/October of this year, addressing the findings of a study by the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU), which indicates that 250,000 homes are not on the market for sale or rental.
Demolition operations are underway in at least two municipalities in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (Loures and Amadora), contested by the Movimento Vida Justa.
The goal is to deliver 26,000 homes to families by June 2026. The 1.º Direito - Programa de Apoio ao Acesso à Habitação - RRP aims to guarantee decent and adequate housing for the neediest families and the most vulnerable groups.
- The special co-financing regime introduced in April 2025 for housing solutions outside the PRR budget will not only finance the construction of public homes but also provide opportunities for investing in real-estate solutions.
- With the expansion of the 1.º Direito program to finance an additional 33,000 public homes, there is now a substantial potential for real-estate developers and investors to collaborate in addressing the housing needs of more Portuguese families.
