Lisbon Keeps 71,500 Square Metres of Building Land in the Alta de Lisboa for Affordable Homes in a 46 Million Euro Settlement With Developer SGAL

Lisbon City Council will keep a large reserve of building land in the Alta de Lisboa, the planned district on the city's northern edge in Lumiar, after approving a settlement on Wednesday 28 October with the developer that has run its urbanisation since the 1980s. The mayor, Carlos Moedas, says the council wants to use the land for affordable housing, but no number of homes, delivery model or timetable has been set.

What the council keeps

According to the council's own announcement, the deal with the Sociedade Gestora da Alta de Lisboa (SGAL) keeps in municipal hands plots with more than 71,500 square metres of building capacity (the floor area that may be built on them). That covers Lote 5.8, with 9,700 square metres, the Malha 24 plots, with 54,414 square metres, and 7,462 square metres of scattered land, valued together at 46 million euros.

In return, SGAL will carry out the roads and utilities works on the lots it had already received, a cost the council puts at 15.8 million euros that would otherwise have fallen on the city. The council says the settlement ends a decades-old contractual dispute and avoids a long arbitration. It grew out of a memorandum of understanding signed on 24 April 2026.

The underlying contract dates from December 1984. It was meant to run to the end of 2010, was extended several times and lapsed on 31 March 2025, when the Municipal Assembly voted down a further extension, Observador reported, citing Lusa.

How the councillors voted

The proposal, signed by deputy mayor Gonçalo Reis, passed with votes in favour from the governing PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition, the PS and the Bloco de Esquerda (BE). Chega voted against; Livre and the PCP abstained. The BE says the land could take up to 3,800 homes, a figure the council has not given, and wants no plot sold at auction. The PCP asked for a commitment that the land will be used for public housing and not sold. Livre's amendment calling for public and cooperative housing on the plots, and for the planned Campo Grande to Calvanas road link, was rejected by the majority.

On the same day, Moedas refused the PCP's bid to cancel the planned auction of ten other council plots, which the PCP says could hold about 500 homes. "Without that auction we cannot keep building housing," the mayor said, according to Observador.

What it means if you are waiting for an affordable home

The Alta de Lisboa land will not produce homes soon: the council has named no project or date. The council's affordable rent scheme, the Programa Renda Acessível, allocates homes by lottery, and its 40th draw is open now. It offers 14 two- to four-bedroom flats in Benfica, and applications close at 17:00 on 5 November 2026 through the Habitar Lisboa platform. Under the council's eligibility rules, applicants must live in Portugal on proven income, and no one in the household may own a home in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The national government is also studying private partners for affordable rentals on state land.

Parque Tejo works in 2027

The council also said the green spaces at Parque Tejo, officially the Parque Papa Francisco, will start in 2027. Councillor Joana Baptista said the first phase of works on the 48-hectare site in Parque das Nações, which sits on a landfill closed for more than 30 years, will go out to tender next year, Observador reported.