The head of the Liberal Initiative for the Funchal City Council, Sara Jardim, defended today the conversion of vacant public buildings into social housing projects that can help reduce housing shortages.
“An exhaustive survey of the buildings must be carried out to understand and inventory what exists in the city, what is not being used, what is public and can be immediately made available with public-private partnerships or with the social sector,” said Sara Jardim.
The IL candidate was speaking as part of a campaign action for the local elections on the 12th of October, next to a government-owned building where a military recruitment centre used to operate, but has now been abandoned.
“What we imagine here is, for example, a university residence,” she said, highlighting the difficulty of students in finding affordable accommodation.
On the same street, next to the public building, there is a private building, also vacant, where the SĂŁo Pedro School operated, and the IL candidate defends its transformation into a residential building.
“It makes no sense that at a time of housing shortage we have state buildings that are not being used and there could perfectly be a concession to the City Council,” she said, adding that in relation to private buildings the solution involves “reducing fees, reducing bureaucracy and streamlining processes.”
Sara Jardim considers that the Funchal municipality, the most populous municipality in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, with 108,129 inhabitants (official data for 2024), should make an inventory of vacant buildings and mobilise “all the necessary support and aid” to encourage the entry of new dwellings into the market, namely by streamlining fees and licenses for occupying the space.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
