CML foresees increased investment in housing and urbanism in 2027

A housing and urbanism “is the area that grows the most” regarding the investment foreseen in the Lisbon municipal budget for 2027, with EUR 167 million, today revealed the vice president of the municipality, predicting new models of public-private partnerships.

“I believe that in 2027 we will have interesting news, which are new models of public-private partnerships for affordable housing,” Gonçalo Reis (PSD) said, noting that these projects are under study, so there is no budget translation for next year.

The head of the Finance Board spoke in the Council Chambers, in the presentation of the proposal for a municipal budget for 2027, which provides for expenditure of EUR 1,463 million (ME), plus 8.8% compared to the 1.345 ME planned for this year 2026.

It is proposed 167 ME for housing and urbanism in 2027, which corresponds to a growth of 12.9% compared to the 148 ME planned for this year, of which there is an execution forecast of 126 ME, according to Gonçalo Reis, which highlighted that this “is the area that grows the most” in terms of allocated investment, with an absolute increase of 19 ME.

Reinforcing that housing “is a high priority”, the vice president of the chamber indicated that, in the action axes, 476 houses are planned in rehabilitation or construction work, namely 98 fires in Padre Cruz neighborhood, 160 in Lumiar Palaces and 72 in Vila Dias, as well as 672 houses in new construction and rehabilitation project, without detailing how many are new.

It is also expected 48 ME for the conservation, rehabilitation and maintenance of municipal fires, pointed out, highlighting that, next year, 107 fires will be delivered under the program De Volta to the Neighborhood, which estimates the availability of a total of 700 houses, and 1,100 families will be supported in the payment of income.

According to the proposal, there will be 89 cooperative fires, with a review of the surface right model for housing cooperatives, new models of public-private partnerships for affordable housing and revision of regulations, in particular the right to housing and management of the municipality's housing park.

As for new models of public-private partnerships, the PSD mayor said it goes through mobilizing land from the City Council in surface right so that investors build affordable housing, stating that the executive is already working to present projects next year.

Noting that this idea does not yet have a budget translation for 2027, Gonçalo Reis highlighted that the cost of the land “is a very significant component, sometimes 30%, sometimes 40%”, of a certain real estate investment and, as the municipality has land, the city wants to contribute to the increase in housing supply.

In this context, the mayor admitted the possibility of making land available in Alto do Lumiar, within the framework of the regularization of the contract with the Sociedade Geradora da Alta de Lisboa (SGAL), in which “the chamber had more than 50,000 square meters for housing and a smaller amount for social, cultural equipment”.

Questioned about the executive's option to sell 10 municipal land in public haste, especially when the municipality dispenses with revenue, including the exemption of fees at major events and the total return of the IRS to Lisbon, Gonçalo Reis defended a rational reading of the city's assets, in which some assets have no strategic purpose, nor projects of use by the municipality, and therefore should go to the market to obtain capital revenue.

“And this capital revenue allows investment in housing”, he explained, giving as an example the rehabilitation of the building of the former seat of the presidency of the Council of Ministers, an investment of 20 ME.

Claiming that “people speak very well of a growing need for investment in housing,” the mayor recalled that CML “dedicated more than 85% of its PRR [Plan of Recovery and Resilience] to housing.”.

“ But the PRR is over. Life is what it is. The PRR has ended and therefore we have to find additional, increased ways to finance what we want, which is an investment in housing,” he said.

This is the second budget of the current mandate (2025-2029), proposed by PSD/CDS-PP/IL governance, under the leadership of Carlos Coins (PSD).