Housing support is a partnership established between the Region and beneficiary families, says Vasco Cordeiro
The President of the Regional Government highlighted on Terceira Island the Government's "political option" to guarantee Azorean families their right to housing. However, he stressed that this not about the allocation of houses, but rather a partnership that is established between both parties.
What is at stake is a "contract, a partnership and a relation in which the Region provides housing, but, on your part, you rights and duties that must be fulfilled," said Vasco Cordeiro.
The President of the Government spoke at the signing ceremony of the terms of commitment and the lease contracts for 22 new houses, representing an investment of about 2.1 million Euros. It was carried out under the second phase of the urban development of Nossa Senhora de Fátima Neighbourhood in the municipality of Praia da Vitória.
According to him, the Government has the responsibility to manage the money that the Azoreans pay through their taxes, having decided that part of it would be allocated for the construction of houses.
"They are built and the Government will now sign a lease contract with families by which they are required to pay rent and are entitled to live in these dwellings," said Vasco Cordeiro. As he mentioned, this policy has the primary purpose of fulfilling the right to housing.
In his speech, the President of the Government of the Azores also assured that this housing policy has allowed the support of nearly 4,000 families throughout the Region in the last legislative period, corresponding to an investment of 50 million Euros.
"The investment continues in the current term. In this first year, we have already invested nearly 14 million Euros, helping 2,600 Azorean families," said Vasco Cordeiro.
Next year, we will begin the construction of 100 houses on several islands of the archipelago, the President of the Government said, announcing that the Government is also working on amending the legal regime on the allocation of support for the recovery of degraded housing. The aim is to adequate the support tool for families with the new reality that the Region facing, namely in terms of housing availability.
"With this amendment to the legal scheme, we intend to create more and better responses to this situation," concluded Vasco Cordeiro.