Real estate projects waiting years to get planning permission

Some projects in Lisbon are taking five years or more to receive planning permission from Lisbon City Council.

A report by Jornal Económico tells of developers which are exasperated over delays and demand a quicker system, it costing them on average around €50,000 in each case a project is delayed.
One developer claims it has been waiting seven years. Another real estate developer with several projects in the capital is still waiting for planning permission ever since it first submitted an initial application for outline planning permission in 2015.
Jornal Económico says that this is just one example of the state of planning system at city hall: the problem is not a new one, but has existed for years and is putting off investors that want to build in a city which has a lack of affordable housing, while the ones that do exist are for sale at high prices.
“The first project that we purchased in Lisbon was bought from an investor who had bought the land from the city council itself. The Request for Prior Information (PIP) was presented in October 2015, we bought the project on March 30, 2016, and as of now we do not have permission to build. Six years we’ve been waiting. We are talking about a new build in Graça, so we’re not talking about a classified building”, the CEO of Vanguard Properties, José Cardoso Botelho (pictured), told the newspaper.

Image: American Club of Lisbon