Funchal revises affordable rent scheme and approves paid parking at Praia Formosa
Madeira GuideThe council can now rent homes on the open market and pass them on to residents, with 2 million euros set aside. A changed Praia Formosa plan adds parking spaces.
Funchal City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a revision of the rules of Habitar Funchal, its affordable rent programme. At the same meeting it approved by majority a change to the project planned for Praia Formosa.
The revision adapts the programme to the new legal framework for affordable renting. It allows the council to rent homes on the market and then make them available to residents who meet the programme's conditions. Mayor Jorge Carvalho said the change became necessary after the recent revision of the national affordable rent scheme, which gives tax benefits to owners who make properties available under its conditions.
The council has made 2 million euros available for the programme. The process is expected to start in February 2027.
Praia Formosa
The revised Praia Formosa plan has 420 parking spaces, 160 more than the roughly 260 available today. It keeps eight accesses to the beach, a garden of about 38,000 square metres and commercial spaces serving the area.
Carvalho said the new parking spaces will be paid and that access to the beach will be public and free. The start of work depends on the private developers and on the outcome of a pending court case.
This site reported earlier this week that a Chega councillor opposes a Praia Formosa parking cut.
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Madeira Guide
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