Almada Homes Under the Airport Flight Path Can Claim up to 5,000 Euros for Soundproof Windows, Once the Council Opens Applications

Households in Almada that sit under the approach to Lisbon airport can have the full cost of new soundproof windows, shutter boxes or façade insulation paid for them, up to 5,000 euros a home. The rules are in a municipal regulation published in the Diário da República (the official gazette) on Friday 25 September. It enters into force on Saturday.

No one can apply yet. The regulation says the Câmara Municipal de Almada (Almada City Council) must first approve a call for applications, which will set the dates and the total budget and will be published on the council's website. The regulation gives no date for it.

Where the money comes from

The scheme is the local arm of the Programa Menos Ruído ("Less Noise" programme), which the government created in March 2025 for people living near Humberto Delgado airport in four municipalities: Lisbon, Loures, Vila Franca de Xira and Almada. The Fundo Ambiental (Environmental Fund) pays; each council runs its own calls. Almada signed its funding protocol with the fund on 22 January 2026, put a draft regulation out for public consultation in April, and its municipal assembly approved the final text on 11 September.

Which homes qualify

Only homes inside the areas mapped by ANA, Aeroportos de Portugal (the airport operator), and the Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (National Civil Engineering Laboratory, LNEC) are eligible. Those are areas where average noise over the day reaches 55 decibels or more, or where night-time noise reaches 45 decibels or more. The regulation's annex, 51 pages of maps and street lists, is organised by parish:

• Caparica and Trafaria;
• Costa da Caparica;
• Charneca de Caparica and Sobreda;
• Almada, Cova da Piedade, Pragal and Cacilhas, where the listed streets fall only in the night-noise band.

The home must be a permanent residence, and the building must be legal, or have been built before 7 August 1951 without unlicensed extensions since. Shops and other commercial premises are excluded, as are homes that already have high-performance acoustic windows or insulation.

Owners and co-owners can apply. So can tenants, with a registered lease and the owner's written consent to the work, and the head of an undivided estate or an heir the estate authorises.

What it pays for, and how much

The grant is non-repayable and covers 100 percent of the eligible cost, to a maximum of 5,000 euros per beneficiary, VAT included. Within that, windows are capped at 750 euros per square metre and shutter boxes at 100 euros per linear metre.

The work must actually improve sound insulation, and the regulation sets technical minimums:

• Windows must have a sound-reduction rating (Rw) of at least 40 decibels and an A or A+ energy class, shown on each window's CLASSE+ label.
• Shutter boxes must also reach Rw 40 decibels.
• Façade insulation must meet a thermal performance threshold, backed by a product sheet or European technical assessment.

The installer must hold a builder's licence and be registered on the Portal casa+ and, for windows, on the CLASSE+ portal. Necessary demolition and making good, acoustic tests, and VAT you cannot recover are covered. Design work, studies, site supervision, temporary rehousing and anything already funded by another State programme are not. In older buildings, the municipal master plan requires traditional materials and the original colours to be kept.

Who goes first

Applications are ranked on a score from 1 to 5. Sixty percent of it depends on how loud the location is, with homes in the band where night noise reaches 50 decibels or more scoring highest. The other 40 percent depends on social vulnerability: households that receive the social tariff for electricity, gas or water score higher. Ties go to whoever applied first, to the second.

How the process will work

1. Apply online through the council's Balcão Virtual (online service counter) while the call is open. The Espaço Cidadão (citizen service desk) in Almada will help fill in the form.
2. Attach everything at once. A missing document means the application is rejected outright. The list includes the property's tax record (caderneta predial) and land registry certificate, a tax-residence certificate, proof of no debts to the tax office and Social Security, a social tariff bill if you are claiming priority, and a detailed quote from a qualifying installer with photos of the current windows.
3. Council inspection. Technical staff visit the home before scoring. A provisional list is published and applicants have the right to respond before the final list is approved.
4. Sign within 15 days. Approved applicants must return a signed acceptance form within 15 days or lose the grant to the next person on the list.
5. Finish within 90 days. The work must be completed within 90 days of signing, or of receiving a building permit if one is needed.
6. Get paid. Report completion on the Balcão Virtual with invoices, photos, a completion declaration and the product sheets. The council pays into your bank account within 30 days of confirming the work, and you then have 15 days to show proof that you paid the installer.

Work that is late, incomplete or different from what was approved can cost part or all of the grant, and money already paid may have to be returned.

What this means for residents

• Check your street now. The annex to the regulation lists every eligible street by parish. If yours is not there, you are not eligible, however loud the planes are.
• Line up a quote early. The quote must name a CLASSE+ window reference for each opening and come from a registered installer, and those take time to arrange.
• Tenants need the landlord. Without the owner's written authorisation, a tenant's application fails.
• Get your paperwork current. The land registry certificate must be less than six months old, and the no-debt certificates must be up to date when you apply.

Night flights at Humberto Delgado have been a long-running complaint: 870 breaches of the night-flight rules were recorded in three months earlier this year. For noise from neighbours rather than aircraft, see our guide to dealing with noise and neighbours in Portugal.

Source: Regulamento n.º 1196/2026, Município de Almada, Diário da República, 2.ª série, n.º 187 of 25 September 2026 (Regulamento Municipal do Programa Mitigação dos Impactos do Ruído Gerado pelo Aeroporto Humberto Delgado no Concelho de Almada), including its annexed maps and street lists.