Madeira reserves land in Amparo for affordable housing

The Regional Government of Madeira has approved Regional Regulatory Decree no. 16/2026/M, which establishes preventive measures in the Amparo area, parish of São Martinho, municipality of Funchal, to allocate land to the regional housing policy. The decree was published in the Diário da República, 1st series, no. 167, on August 28, 2026, and comes into force on the day following its publication.

The decision was made in the Regional Government Council on August 6, 2026, chaired by Miguel Filipe Machado de Albuquerque, and signed on August 24 by the Representative of the Republic for the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Paulo Duarte Barreto Ferreira. The decree is part of the XVI Regional Government’s program, which assumes housing as a fundamental axis of public policy.

Context of the housing crisis

The decree justifies the measure based on the European and national housing crisis. Between 2015 and 2024, housing prices in the European Union increased by an average of 53%, with the highest growth in Hungary (209.5%), Lithuania (135%), and Portugal (124.4%). Portugal currently presents the worst ratio between income and housing prices since 1995.

In Madeira, tourist demand and foreign investment have aggravated acquisition and rental costs, while insularity, rugged orography, and property fragmentation limit land with building capacity. Funchal is the municipality with the greatest housing shortages and the highest demand for affordable housing.

Preventive measures in the Amparo area

In the areas delimited in the map attached to the decree, the practice of several acts is subject to prior authorization from the Regional Secretariat for Equipment and Infrastructure, after consulting the Funchal City Council:

Creation of new housing nuclei;
Construction, reconstruction, expansion, alteration, and demolition of buildings;
Installation or expansion of operations;
Alterations to the configuration of the land through landfills or excavations;
Felling of trees in mass and destruction of topsoil and vegetation cover;
Opening of pits or waste deposits and hydraulic works;
Painting, whitewashing, and alterations of ornamental elements;
Any other activities that affect the integrity of the delimited area.

The regional housing policy is developed through IHM — Investimentos Habitacionais da Madeira, EPERAM, which implements programs such as the “Reduced Rent Program,” aimed at guaranteeing access to decent housing for the working middle class.

Validity and supervision

Preventive measures shall remain in effect for a period of two years, extendable for one further year, provided that their necessity is duly demonstrated. Monitoring compliance is the responsibility of the Regional Secretariat for Equipment and Infrastructure and the Funchal Municipal Council, under the terms of Law No. 31/2014, of May 30, and Regional Legislative Decree No. 18/2017/M, of June 27.

The land reserve in Amparo represents a structural response to the scarcity of buildable land in Madeira, ensuring that areas well-served by accessibility and infrastructure are allocated to affordable collective housing, in a municipality where rental market pressure primarily affects young people and families with dependents.

Source: Diário da República, 1st series, no. 167, August 28, 2026 (official reference: Regional Regulatory Decree No. 16/2026/M).