In total, the municipality, located in the Porto district, now has six new housing developments, representing an investment of €122 million in renovating and constructing new homes.

Rita, Teresa, and Ana received three of the 105 keys handed over; they described the day as marking “a fresh start in life,” a “moment that still feels unreal,” and “a relief.”

For 46-year-old Rita Monte, a mother of three daughters, a new home represents “the opportunity” to start over: “It’s a fresh start for my daughters and me. I was in a somewhat precarious situation because it was hard to find an apartment for the four of us with an affordable rent; this was truly a life-changing opportunity,” she said.

The four of them had been living in a studio apartment and had waited a year for that key—“a stroke of luck.”

“I actually think I was very lucky, because it’s been exactly a year this August since I submitted the paperwork. In February, they called to ask if I wanted a new home, and of course, I said yes,” she recounted.

From February until today, “it was a time of anxiety, always checking to see when the house would be ready—and it was ready today,” Rita noted.

Plans for the first dinner in the new home haven’t been decided yet—partly because, as Rita said, “the house is empty”—so she joked, “it’ll probably be on the floor with some ordered pizzas.”

For Ana Ferreira, 42, a mother of two, the key she received today feels like a moment that is “hard to believe,” following years of hardship: “My life took a drastic turn, and unable to rent a decent home, I lived, honestly, in a relative’s house that was in poor condition: very damp, with dilapidated floors and walls, and cramped.”

Ana waited two years for this key. “I am very grateful; it was actually quite quick. This means well-being and health for my children, because our previous situation would have become complicated in the long run. Now, we’re going to have a fresh start in a new home that has everything we need,” she explained.

When she enters the new house, Ana says she plans to “sit on the living room floor and just take it all in,” especially since she hasn’t seen the place yet: “My daughter is here with me, my youngest, who is three, didn’t come, but my daughter got emotional and is overjoyed because she’ll finally have a proper bedroom of her own,” she noted.

At 73, Maria Soares feels sad about leaving her old home; although it “lacked proper amenities,” she loved the location. Today, she received the keys to her new home alongside her daughter, Teresa: “My parents waited over 20 years, and now my father is bedridden; they didn’t even have an indoor bathroom,” she recounted.

For this mother and daughter, the feeling is one of “double happiness,” as they are set to become neighbours. Teresa can continue looking after her parents—“but each in her own home”—especially since she had previously been living with her husband and son in an annex attached to her parents’ house.

“Now everything will be different,” Teresa predicted.

These new homes feature a “special” characteristic within the context of the municipality. “This housing complex—the Flor de Infesta development—has a special feature: in addition to building new units.