Young people in Santa Cruz das Flores say they can't find affordable housing despite the low population

A paradox: low population, little available housing

In the municipality of Santa Cruz das Flores, near Lagoa Funda, in the island's interior, young people looking to move out on their own run into an almost non-existent rental market. According to sources in the property sector, much of the housing stock consists of family homes occupied seasonally or shut up by heirs who live off the island, leaving very few real options for year-round renting.

Local wages against rising prices

Wages on the island, tied mainly to public administration, retail and tourism, have not kept pace with the prices of the few rental properties available, according to figures cited by local estate agencies. Many young people from Santa Cruz das Flores choose to keep living with their parents past the age of thirty, or to move temporarily to São Miguel or mainland Portugal in search of housing and work, a trend local residents' associations have been flagging for some time.

The interior also weighs in

The Lagoa Funda area and neighbouring Lagoa Comprida, highly valued for their volcanic scenery, are attracting a growing number of buyers from outside the island interested in country houses, which, according to sources in the property sector, indirectly puts pressure on the market by competing for the same rustic houses once rented out to young local families.

Responses from the regional administration

The Governo Regional dos Açores has in recent years expanded support schemes for rental and renovation aimed at people under 35, also applicable in Flores, although representatives of the Santa Cruz das Flores council acknowledge that the limited physical supply of housing limits the real impact of these schemes, however generous they may be on paper, according to sources in the sector.

What could change

Local associations are calling for specific incentives to encourage owners of shuttered houses to put them on the long-term rental market, rather than leaving them empty or turning them over to tourism. Without that shift, sources in the property sector warn, the exodus of young people from Santa Cruz das Flores to other islands will paradoxically remain one of the biggest obstacles to revitalising the housing market itself.