“The issue [lack of housing] has to be resolved, but it’s not about stopping the market, which would be absolutely catastrophic. You can't stop foreign investment here [Madeira], you can't stop real estate, you can't stop all economic activity that is linked to the growth of real estate, because that would be suicide”, said social democrat Miguel Albuquerque.

Asked whether the solution would be to “limit” or “create a ceiling” on property sales to foreigners, the head of the Madeiran executive declared: “I am against this because the market has to work and it is good that it does”.

In his opinion, “this socialist idea of ​​controlling prices, controlling the market, leads to state intervention, which creates dysfunctions in the market and harms everyone”.

Regarding the limitation of local accommodation, Miguel Albuquerque considered it “important for municipal councils to decide”, evaluating the interest for the respective municipalities, and added that this situation should only be considered when “it is harming the quality of life of residents”.

“We need to be careful with this limitation at the moment, as everyone knows, seasonal rentals have provided additional income, especially for families who have buildings outside Funchal, in many municipalities. It is an important complement to family income, but it is up to the municipal councils to decide”, argued the island’s governor.

Regarding the increase in eviction actions in the region, Miguel Albuquerque warned that “landlords do not have to do the social work of the State”, because we live “in a State of Law”, and there is the right to private property.

Affordable housing

Albuquerque also highlighted that the Regional Government “has to find a solution to put housing on the market at affordable prices for residents and families”.

Among the mechanisms to solve the problem, he highlighted the focus on the construction of cooperative housing, as happened in the 90s, at controlled costs, mentioning that “128 ME is being invested in popular housing”.

“There are other options, but at this time, our main priority will be to advance in these two options: to continue investing in affordable housing, to continue and quickly reinforce construction at controlled costs, placing homes 30% below market price for families and with other complements that may exist in terms of acquisition facilities”, he reinforced.

Miguel Albuquerque recalled that the Madeiran executive had “two projects to launch, they could not be launched because the government fell, the budget was rejected. One of them was 220 apartments on the Tecnopolo land (Funchal) and another behind APEL (a school in Funchal), plus 53 apartments for construction through the cooperative modality”.

“We have more than 400 units under construction, some of which have already been delivered,” he highlighted.

The island official said that the Regional Government will continue to do this work, indicating that the city councils and the executive have land that can be ceded to cooperatives so that they can build and, together with other measures, the costs can be reduced “substantially”.

“We have to have the market working”, and we need to solve the problem of the lack of housing without introducing “dysfunctionalities, because this brings poverty and a slowdown in the economy, brings distrust, brings a retraction in investment”, he concluded.