Army to receive 31 million from PRR to renovate buildings and create 427 homes

The Army signed an agreement today to receive around 31 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Plan to create 427 homes through the renovation of 15 buildings, which will accommodate around 600 soldiers.

The agreement was signed at the former Army Uniform General Workshops in Lisbon, in a ceremony attended by the Ministers of National Defense, Nuno Melo, and Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, and the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas.

Speaking to journalists, Nuno Melo highlighted that these homes should be ready in July 2026 and will be intended for temporary accommodation (for around two or three years) for military personnel and their families, or civilians working in the Army, who will pay a monthly rent of around 45 euros.

In total, 15 buildings will be rehabilitated - 13 for housing and two for education - in cities such as Lisbon, Porto, Leiria, Vendas Novas and Constância.

“We are taking the first steps towards the recovery of heritage that is in a state of disrepair, but which will be returned to the cities. It will be given over for housing and, in other cases, it will be given over for the benefit of students”, highlighted Nuno Melo, referring to the requalification, foreseen in this agreement in the area of ​​education, of the Military College and the Army Pupils Institute, both in Lisbon.

One of the buildings that will be restored for housing is precisely the site of the defunct Army Uniform workshops, where the agreement was signed today, which is located about 10 minutes' walk from Santa Apolónia train station and where around 54 rooms will be created.

Nuno Melo highlighted that this is the “largest investment ever” for the requalification of Army buildings and criticized the previous Government, highlighting that, when he took office as minister, the portion of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) allocated to the Army “was less than 300 thousand euros”.

“10 months later, what we are doing here today represents an investment of more than 31 million euros”, he highlighted, adding that it is necessary to ensure that the RRP is implemented.

“When resources are scarce, in a country like Portugal, we cannot waste the PRR - and the PRR was wasted for a long time - and we cannot leave out the Armed Forces, because the Armed Forces, and the Army in particular, are perhaps the biggest property owners in Portugal”, he stated.

The minister also considered that this program will contribute to increasing the attractiveness of a career in the Armed Forces because “housing is at the top of the concerns” of the military.

In turn, the Chief of the Army General Staff (CEME), General Eduardo Mendes Ferrão, considered that today “the cycle of alienation of the Army's heritage” was broken and highlighted that, for the first time, this branch of the Armed Forces is able to access “other sources of financing for the recovery and requalification of its buildings” in addition to the State Budget and the Military Infrastructure Law (LIM).

General Mendes Ferrão criticized the current LIM model, which he considered to create “serious constraints on the Army, given the high unpredictability of both the annual amounts and the date on which they are made available to the Army”.

“I note that, with the current financing model, through the LIM, which we are now changing, the Army would need 39 years to rehabilitate just the existing accommodation in the barracks”, he indicated.

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony of this agreement, the Minister of Defense was asked by journalists whether Portugal would consider sending peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, but he postponed this answer until the hearing he will hold this afternoon in the Assembly of the Republic.

The Army signed an agreement today to receive around 31 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Plan to create 427 homes through the renovation of 15 buildings, which will accommodate around 600 soldiers.

The agreement was signed at the former Army Uniform General Workshops in Lisbon, in a ceremony attended by the Ministers of National Defense, Nuno Melo, and Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, and the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas.

Speaking to journalists, Nuno Melo highlighted that these homes should be ready in July 2026 and will be intended for temporary accommodation (for around two or three years) for military personnel and their families, or civilians working in the Army, who will pay a monthly rent of around 45 euros.

In total, 15 buildings will be rehabilitated - 13 for housing and two for education - in cities such as Lisbon, Porto, Leiria, Vendas Novas and Constância.

“We are taking the first steps towards the recovery of heritage that is in a state of disrepair, but which will be returned to the cities. It will be given over for housing and, in other cases, it will be given over for the benefit of students”, highlighted Nuno Melo, referring to the requalification, foreseen in this agreement in the area of ​​education, of the Military College and the Army Pupils Institute, both in Lisbon.

One of the buildings that will be restored for housing is precisely the site of the defunct Army Uniform workshops, where the agreement was signed today, which is located about 10 minutes' walk from Santa Apolónia train station and where around 54 rooms will be created.

Nuno Melo highlighted that this is the “largest investment ever” for the requalification of Army buildings and criticized the previous Government, highlighting that, when he took office as minister, the portion of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) allocated to the Army “was less than 300 thousand euros”.

“10 months later, what we are doing here today represents an investment of more than 31 million euros”, he highlighted, adding that it is necessary to ensure that the RRP is implemented.

“When resources are scarce, in a country like Portugal, we cannot waste the PRR - and the PRR was wasted for a long time - and we cannot leave out the Armed Forces, because the Armed Forces, and the Army in particular, are perhaps the biggest property owners in Portugal”, he stated.

The minister also considered that this program will contribute to increasing the attractiveness of a career in the Armed Forces because “housing is at the top of the concerns” of the military.

In turn, the Chief of the Army General Staff (CEME), General Eduardo Mendes Ferrão, considered that today “the cycle of alienation of the Army's heritage” was broken and highlighted that, for the first time, this branch of the Armed Forces is able to access “other sources of financing for the recovery and requalification of its buildings” in addition to the State Budget and the Military Infrastructure Law (LIM).

General Mendes Ferrão criticized the current LIM model, which he considered to create “serious constraints on the Army, given the high unpredictability of both the annual amounts and the date on which they are made available to the Army”.

“I note that, with the current financing model, through the LIM, which we are now changing, the Army would need 39 years to rehabilitate just the existing accommodation in the barracks”, he indicated.

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony of this agreement, the Minister of Defense was asked by journalists whether Portugal would consider sending peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, but he postponed this answer until the hearing he will hold this afternoon in the Assembly of the Republic.

The Army signed an agreement today to receive around 31 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Plan to create 427 homes through the renovation of 15 buildings, which will accommodate around 600 soldiers.

The agreement was signed at the former Army Uniform General Workshops in Lisbon, in a ceremony attended by the Ministers of National Defense, Nuno Melo, and Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, and the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas.

Speaking to journalists, Nuno Melo highlighted that these homes should be ready in July 2026 and will be intended for temporary accommodation (for around two or three years) for military personnel and their families, or civilians working in the Army, who will pay a monthly rent of around 45 euros.

In total, 15 buildings will be rehabilitated - 13 for housing and two for education - in cities such as Lisbon, Porto, Leiria, Vendas Novas and Constância.

“We are taking the first steps towards the recovery of heritage that is in a state of disrepair, but which will be returned to the cities. It will be given over for housing and, in other cases, it will be given over for the benefit of students”, highlighted Nuno Melo, referring to the requalification, foreseen in this agreement in the area of ​​education, of the Military College and the Army Pupils Institute, both in Lisbon.

One of the buildings that will be restored for housing is precisely the site of the defunct Army Uniform workshops, where the agreement was signed today, which is located about 10 minutes' walk from Santa Apolónia train station and where around 54 rooms will be created.

Nuno Melo highlighted that this is the “largest investment ever” for the requalification of Army buildings and criticized the previous Government, highlighting that, when he took office as minister, the portion of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) allocated to the Army “was less than 300 thousand euros”.

“10 months later, what we are doing here today represents an investment of more than 31 million euros”, he highlighted, adding that it is necessary to ensure that the RRP is implemented.

“When resources are scarce, in a country like Portugal, we cannot waste the PRR - and the PRR was wasted for a long time - and we cannot leave out the Armed Forces, because the Armed Forces, and the Army in particular, are perhaps the biggest property owners in Portugal”, he stated.

The minister also considered that this program will contribute to increasing the attractiveness of a career in the Armed Forces because “housing is at the top of the concerns” of the military.

In turn, the Chief of the Army General Staff (CEME), General Eduardo Mendes Ferrão, considered that today “the cycle of alienation of the Army's heritage” was broken and highlighted that, for the first time, this branch of the Armed Forces is able to access “other sources of financing for the recovery and requalification of its buildings” in addition to the State Budget and the Military Infrastructure Law (LIM).

General Mendes Ferrão criticized the current LIM model, which he considered to create “serious constraints on the Army, given the high unpredictability of both the annual amounts and the date on which they are made available to the Army”.

“I note that, with the current financing model, through the LIM, which we are now changing, the Army would need 39 years to rehabilitate just the existing accommodation in the barracks”, he indicated.

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony of this agreement, the Minister of Defense was asked by journalists whether Portugal would consider sending peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, but he postponed this answer until the hearing he will hold this afternoon in the Assembly of the Republic.