Lisbon Will Auction Ten Council Plots on 10 December, Priced From a Combined 59.3 Million Euros, With No Affordable Housing Quota Attached

Lisbon City Council (Câmara Municipal de Lisboa) will auction ten plots of municipal land at 10:00 on 10 December. The notice appeared in the council's Boletim Municipal (municipal gazette) on Thursday 8 October, and Jornal de Negócios reported it was also published that day in the Diário da República (the official gazette). The base prices add up to just under 59.3 million euros (reported as 59.2 million). The plots cover about 29,700 square metres in seven parishes, and the most valuable, on Rua Emília Eduarda in Penha de França, starts at 13.7 million euros.

The ten plots

Floor space and uses come from the council's planning sheets, which are a reference, not an approved project.

• Rua Pardal Monteiro, Marvila: four lots sold together, 7,092 sq m, 11.8 million euros. An existing permit allows about 15,800 sq m, mostly housing, for 106 homes; the buyer must build its roads and utilities.
• Rua Almirante Sarmento Rodrigues, Beato (two plots): 397 sq m at 1.1 million euros, for about 1,800 sq m of flats and shops; and 3,569 sq m at 9.4 million euros, for about 10,000 sq m of housing on up to eight floors.
• Rua Emília Eduarda, Penha de França: ten parcels sold together, 10,071 sq m, 13.7 million euros, for about 15,300 sq m of housing, shops, services or facilities.
• Quinta dos Alcoutins, Lumiar (lots 26 and 27): 1,063 and 1,150 sq m, at 797,100 and 850,400 euros, each for one two-storey house.
• Rua Dom Jerónimo Osório, Belém: 428 sq m, 1.4 million euros, about 1,680 sq m, mostly housing.
• Rua Gregório Lopes, Belém: 647 sq m, 5.7 million euros, about 5,700 sq m, mostly housing.
• Rua de Campolide, Campolide: five parcels, 4,113 sq m, 10.9 million euros, about 6,300 sq m. The buyer must build a public underground car park with at least 90 spaces.
• Rua Washington, São Vicente: 1,217 sq m, 3.4 million euros, about 2,200 sq m, mostly housing.

No affordable housing condition

None of the published documents requires affordable, controlled-cost or capped-rent homes on any plot, or reserves a share of homes for that use. Buyers who later win extra floor space must pay the council for it. One Emília Eduarda parcel is occupied: the rules say three households live there without a municipal title or authorisation, and that clearing it is entirely the buyer's responsibility.

The council approved the sale on 8 July and the Municipal Assembly on 21 July, with PSD, CDS-PP, IL and Chega in favour and the left voting against, Lusa reported. The deputy mayor, Gonçalo Reis, said the plots had lain unused for decades and the money would fund investment in transport, paving, public space and housing. The Socialists said the land could have housed about 500 families, and the Left Bloc said several plots had been earmarked for affordable rent schemes. Reis pointed to the council's own housing projects, such as the homes planned in the former Council of Ministers building.

How the bidding works

Written bids, in Portuguese and at or above the base price, must reach the Loja Lisboa at Campo Grande 25 by 17:00 on 4 December, with a certified or bank cheque for 15 percent of the offer. Questions are accepted by email until 12 November. Oral bidding starts from the highest written offer in steps of at least 20,000 euros. The winner pays another 15 percent after the final award and 70 percent at the deed. Non-resident bidders replace the tax and social security certificates with a tax authority certificate showing they are not tax resident in Portugal.

The rules are in Boletim Municipal n.º 1703 and on lisboa.pt. The fenced Rua Washington plot can be visited on 20 October between 11:00 and 12:00.