The Lisbon City Council decided this Thursday, December 18, to mandate the president of the executive, Carlos Moedas (PSD), to negotiate with the Government (PSD/CDS-PP) cooperation programs so that the municipality can take advantage of the State’s inactive real estate assets for housing purposes.
The decision comes from a proposal by the PCP councilor, João Ferreira, presented at the public meeting of the chamber, with five points, only one of which was approved, while the remaining four were rejected with votes against by the PSD/CDS-PP/IL leadership (which governs without an absolute majority) and Chega.
The approved point, with Chega’s abstention and the votes in favor of PSD/CDS-PP/IL, PS, Livre, BE and PCP, determines that the mayor must “establish a dialogue process with the Government, with a strategic and programmatic dimension”, in order to define cooperation programs between the State and the municipality of Lisbon “for the use, for housing purposes, of the State’s inactive real estate assets”.
This point of the PCP’s proposal highlights the use of seven properties located in Lisbon, including Quinta da Alfarrobeira, the Miguel Bombarda Hospital and the former North Military Maintenance complex, which were integrated into the Partnership Development Program for Affordable Rentals, created this year by the Government, to “expand, on a large scale, the affordable rental housing supply”.
Among the rejected points was the idea of making the assets that the Government intends to sell, including the former headquarters of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers on Rua Professor Gomes Teixeira, be mobilized for public initiatives to promote public housing, with the “creation of economically accessible and non-speculative housing development operations”, as well as public student accommodation.
Also regarding the sale of public properties, the PS proposed to urge the Government (PSD/CDS-PP) to negotiate with the Lisbon City Council the mobilization of State assets with housing potential “to reinforce the municipal public park” and the BE suggested reversing the sale process of these buildings, but both motions were rejected, with PSD/CDS-PP/IL and Chega voting against.
In this regard, Carlos Moedas said that he sent a letter to the Ministers of Finance and Infrastructure and Housing to grant the use of the building of the former headquarters of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
He also highlighted the process of purchasing a property on Avenida de Berna to house the Academia de Amadores de Música, arguing that the acquisition of assets must be done “in a rational way”, especially because the municipality still has “many assets” to develop.
“We don’t want to have assets that are then abandoned. We have to have the financial capacity to do so”he indicated.
PS councilor Alexandra Leitão considered it “incomprehensible” that the PSD/CDS-PP/IL leadership, with the support of Chega, refuses proposals that “only ask for public properties to be mobilized for public purposes, namely for affordable housing”, criticizing the Government’s option to “speculatively sell” assets with housing potential, when the biggest scourge in the city of Lisbon is the lack of housing.
Criticizing the 40% cut in housing investment in the municipal budget for 2026, Alexandra Leitão revealed that the PS will “soon” present a set of measures in this area, including the review of the Municipal Master Plan (PDM).
These are, he indicated, preventive measures to avoid new tourist developments and more effective mechanisms so that each new subdivision has access to public housing.
In response, social democrat Carlos Moedas stated that the municipality had, in the 2021-2025 mandate, “the biggest investment in housing ever”, with a contract with the European Union worth 560 million euros, and said that, if it could, it would have European financing for the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) until 2040.
From Chega, Bruno Mascarenhas argued that investment in housing should be promoted by private parties, including with the municipality making land available with surface rights for building houses.