Documents to be aware of when buying a Property in Portugal

Documents to be aware when buying a Land/Farm in Portugal


A. Documents to be made available by the rural property's owner

A1. Landlord's Citizen Card (or Identity Card + NIF);

A2. Rural Property Tax Ownership / Caderneta Predial do Prédio Rústico (building registry obtained from the AT Tax Authority website):

https://www.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt … imonio.jsp

Main Menu: Os Seus Serviços /Consultar / Imóveis / Património Predial

You cannot get a "Caderneta Predial" of a property that you do not own. However, you can get a "Certidão de Registo Predial" (see A3). Much of the information on the Caderneta Predial can also be found on the Certidão Predial, such as the property owners, mortgage registers, information about the property's buildings or about the land.


A3. Property Registry Certificate / Certidão de Registo Predial (obtained at the Conservatória do Registo Predial), which proves the true property's ownership, and it shows whether there are any mortgages, liabilities and charges related to this property.

Anyone can request online this certificate, here:

https://www.predialonline.pt/PredialOnline/

But to access this online service you will need a digital certificate. Only lawyers, solicitors, notaries and Portuguese citizens with a Citizen's Card can use this service at the moment, since they have digital certificates integrated in their respective professional cards or in the Citizen's Card for Portuguese citizens.

You can get this in person. Here's how to do it:

https://justica.gov.pt/Servicos/Pedir-c … te-predialhttps://justica.gov.pt/Servicos/Consult … te-predialhttps://eportugal.gov.pt/servicos/pedir … to-predial

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B. Be aware that some land/farm in Portugal are not "Freehold" properties

There are properties for sale where this happens. They usually appear in real estate ads with descriptions like these:

"Lote de terreno para construção, este terreno encontra-se ainda em avos"
"Lot/plot of land for construction. This rural property is still in plots yet to be licensed"

or

"Terreno em fase de aprovação, mas ainda não se encontra licenciado"
"Land still being approved, but not yet licensed/approved by Town Hall".

In portuguese: Avos, Parcelas, Lotes, Frações
In english: Plots, Parcels, Lots


What are these plots of land? Can they be bought?

If you own a percentage (plot/"avo") of the land, there is an informal agreement about what your share is. You can sell and buy those "avos" as if they were a company' stock trading, but you are not the real owner of the land, or more accurately, you own land together with all the other owners.


Illustrative example:
The owner of an old farm (Quinta), divides the farmland into plots (subdivision), e.g. 100 plots, selling each plot to a different person. You buy 1 plot, that is, 1% of the Quinta.

As long as this allotment is not (regularized / legalized / approved for construction) by the Town Hall/ Câmara Municipal:

1. You are not the real owner of your share. Everything is under co-ownership. But you can always sell your plot to another interested party by deed (as you can do trading with company shares).

2. You can't build a house there. If you do, it is illegal.

3. Documents like Property Tax Ownership & Property Registry Certificate must be up to date (date less than a couple of months ago) and they highlight land ownership, i.e, if it is a farm plot, there it appears the owner of the Quinta (in this example).

4. These plots are usually cheaper because they have no infrastructure (roads, sanitary facilities, public lighting). If you buy a plot of land already legalized / approved these infrastructures are already done and therefore the land is more expensive.

Furthermore, you may have to give up part of your plot to the Municipal Council, for example, to build a road before the allotment is regularised. You may have to pay, together with all the other owners, for the infrastructures that must be made by the Municipal Council to regularize/legalize all plots, such as sanitary facilities or public lighting.


Also, take note that:

5. Banks will not lend money to build houses on land under these conditions.

6. To regularize all plots it is must be settled a commission of owners, if there are many owners (as we all know, more than 1 is too much...). This commission becomes the legal representative of all owners, to deal with any related issues with entities, such as the municipality they belong.

7. Only after Town Hall's approval that registration (at Conservatória do Registo Predial) and deeds (with new owners and new registries) can be done. Only then, that 1% of land becomes yours and you can start the project to build your house.


What I advise:

If you don't want to have problems, don't buy that kind of land, even if cheaper. Don't make any decision without consulting a lawyer and the respective Town Hall.

If you check out all documents mentioned above, you will know perfectly well who is the owner of the whole land. Always ask for updated documents.

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C. Before purchasing the land

1. Don't take for granted everything what real estate agents tells you. Always check out any information with the Town Halls and, above all, check out carefully the PDM (Plano Director Municipal / Urbanization Master Plan) where land is located.


2. Check out if this land belongs to a special or illegal zone (REN, RAN, AUGI) under construction restrictions.

REN - Reserva Ecológica Nacional / National Ecological Reserve
RAN - Reserva Agrícola Nacional / National Agricultural Reserve
AUGI - Áreas Urbanas de génese ilegal / Urban Areas of illegal origin

There are locations where land are for sale but you cannot build on it, because they are under landscape protection or in a process of reconverting AUGI areas, or it has limits concerning areas to be built. These kind of restrictions are detailed in the PDM.


3. As I've mentioned above, consider not buying land in plots/avos, where you ought to go through the whole legalization process, which are very time consuming processes and cause extra worries.

4. Consider not buying land near quarries, motorways or high tension lines.

5. Consider not buying land with steep slopes (to avoid increasing costs of construction) or with bad sun exposure. Houses facing north always have more damp problems.

6. Consider not buying land with right of way for other adjoining Land owners.

Main banks and housing/property credit simulators
"Simuladores de Crédito Habitação":

Caixa Geral de Depósitos
https://www.cgd.pt/Particulares/Credito … resso.aspx

Millennium BCP
https://www.millenniumbcp.pt/credito-ha … ep=purpose

Novo Banco
https://www.novobanco.pt/particulares/credito-habitacao

Santander Totta
https://www.santander.pt/credito/credit … -habitacao

Banco BPI
https://rep.bancobpi.pt/simuladores/simch/simch.asp

Banco CTT
https://www.bancoctt.pt/o-seu-credito/credito-habitacao

Montepio Geral
https://www.bancomontepio.pt/simuladores

IMI

IMI, Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis (which means Council Property Tax) is the main tax for a property owner.

This tax is applied on all urban properties (for housing, industry, commerce or services) and rustic property (land outside urban centres that is not for construction and that is used for agriculture, as well as warehouses/other constructions related to agricultural activity).

To reach the final value and find out how much tax you will pay yearly, you will have to multiply the IMI rates defined by your municipality for that year by the value that the Finance Government Department settle for each property (patrimonial tax value, commonly referred to as VPT), usually below the market value.

IMI value = VPT   x   IMI Council Rate

If several owners are found in a year 20xx who pays the IMI ?

IMI is paid in year (20xx + 1) by whoever owns the property on 31 December of year 20xx. (eg. IMI to be paid in 2021 is related to the property in 2020).

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VPT:

To calculate VPT it is necessary to multiply different values. The calculation formula is as follows:

VPT = Vc x Ab x Ca x Cl x Cq x Cv

Vc = Base value of the buildings built;

Ab = Gross construction area;

Ca = Coefficient of the purpose for which the building is intended, for example, commercial activity or housing;

Cl = Location Coefficient;

Cq = Quality and comfort Coefficient;

Cv = Aging Coefficient (age of the property)

Eg. For an appartment of VPT = 100000 eur in Albufeira (IMI council rate = 0,3%), we have:

IMI = VPT * Council Rate = 300 eur/ yearly.

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IMI Council Rate:

It assumes different values in different municipalities, since each municipality has autonomy to define its rate.

Check Council Rates for all municipalities here:

https://www.e-konomista.pt/taxas-imi/

(Choose first letter of your municipality name at "TAXAS DE IMI POR CONCELHO" section)

In 2021, these Council rates range from 0.3% to 0.45% for urban buildings and 0.8% for rustic buildings.

Despite the freedom granted to local authorities, IMI rates are governed by law and may not exceed certain limits pre-defined by the Central Government.

IMI rates are reviewed every year and may change, both in an increasing / decreasing way (but they are usually stable). You can check each year what rate applies in your municipality in link above.

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Património Predial & VPT:

You can check here your real estate assets and their VPT values (Património Predial):

https://www.acesso.gov.pt/loginRedirect … imonio.jsp

You can obtain the Property Passbook (Caderneta Predial) for each real estate asset. There you will find all the information about the property and the owner, as well as the VPT and how it is calculated. It has the values applied to all the coefficients mentioned above. If you disagree with any of them, you can request a reevaluation of the property to the AT Tax Authority. For this you have to go to an AT office and fill in a form, justifying your reasons. If it is well-founded, the AT updates the VPT. The coefficients that may not be updated are normally Cq and Cv. Cv should go down with the age of the property, and sometimes it is not adjusted by the AT, as it should be.

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Additional information on the IMI:

The amount of IMI tax payable can be split over the year into 2 or 3 payments without any interest:

- Up to 100 euros: single payment, paid in May;

- More than 100 euros and less than 500 euros: two payments, made in May and November;

- Over 500 euros: three payments, made in May, August and November.

You can pay IMI tax all at once (yearly) if you wish.

IMI simulators (rough values):

https://www.pordata.pt/simulador-imi-qu … gar-de-imi

https://www.doutorfinancas.pt/simulador-de-imi/

...

_________

https://www.cgd.pt/Site/Saldo-Positivo/ … o-imi.aspx

https://www.idealista.pt/news/financas/ … -pagamento

(...)

IMI for houses with a swimming pool

For rural properties / farms:

Hi Rogerpart,

The VPT is calculated according to the formula given in my post #4.

On one hand, municipalities tend to lower the coefficient (council rate), to attract more investment, and the age coefficient also tends to decrease over time.

But on the other hand, the base value of the property Vc tends to increase slightly over time.

This implies that the IMI value remains stable over the years. This is my own percepcion.

Best Regards

- @JohnnyPT

It is not like you are saying.

After the sale of the property, the amount of IMI will be similar. But it is important to check that after the last tax evaluation of the house you are buying:

If you are a Landowner in Portugal, you must use BUPi platform to identify your properties

https://bupi.gov.pt/en/

On the BUPi platform, georeferencing is the identification of a plot of land through geographical coordinates, with the aim of defining its exact location and limits on a map, so that there are no doubts about them. This exact georeferencing of the land (with aerial view like google earth system) will be saved in the Land Registry Office (Conservatória dos registos prediais).

This registration in the BUPi platform is mandatory. If you are buying or selling a property, the land must be identified in the BUPi platform. This is a demand from the notary to deed the land.

FAQs:

https://bupi.gov.pt/en/perguntas-frequentes/

Support / Find out how to find and register your properties in BUPi:

https://bupi.gov.pt/en/apoio/

Contacts:

https://bupi.gov.pt/en/contactos/

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BUPi property registration is free of charge until 23 August 2023.

https://eportugal.gov.pt/servicos/ident … -do-predio

For my house, the realtor performed the BUPi survey and registration, after escritura.  He used a cellular phone for GIS location information, somewhat to the chagrin of my solicitador who had professional training and equipment.  The outcome was surely not as precise, but as my father used to say, "good enough for government work."

@donn25,

Your post contains imprecisions that may mislead those who read it.

The land registry on the BUPi platform, and respective geo-referential identification, is always done by the current owner, and as such, by the seller. After the registration, a statement of responsibility is generated and signed by the current owner, followed by the upload in the platform. After that, the registration will be validated by a BUPi technician and if everything is ok, the georeferential identification will be registered in the Land Registry.

Thus,

1. Who registers on the BUPi is always the seller. If the current owner doesn't know how to do it online, if he is infoexcluded, etc., he can ask for free support from a BUPi technician at the service desks.

2. This registration process at the BUPi is always done before the deed and never after. It is mandatory by law, since about 4 years ago. The deed itself makes reference to the process number of the land registry on the BUPi platform.

3. Land identification and its borders is always done by the owner. The government has nothing to do with it, nor is it its work. If the land identification is incorrectly done, it is always the owner's responsibility (hence the signature of the statement of responsibility). If the land is subsequently sold, this responsibility will be assumed by the new owner.

Here's what I saw:

1. Initially I received, by email, artigos from the Caderneta Predial for each of the 3 parts comprising the sale.  These
2. I came to town, I paid the taxes, we gathered in the Cartório Notarial and I handed over the check and we signed a document describing the sale - escritura.
3. Next week, the real estate agent came out and checked the corners for BUPi.
4. The solicitador, unaware of (3), inquired if he needed to do the BUPi, or if agent was going to do it as planned, and "O BUPi deve ser feito ou pelo vendedor ou pelo comprador e deve ser feito com urgência pois é necessário ao registo predial. "
5. Two weeks after escritura, real estate agent sent completed BUPi "Sistema de Informação Cadastral Simplificado" document to the Notário, with Cc to me, for one "rustic" (no building) part.  He proposed that the other rustic part was already covered by BUPi, being 1/2 of a plot that was already done.  As far as I know, that was the end of the process.

It did seem that my solicitador was somewhat frustrated by the way this process unfolded.  (That's an understatement, but the BUPi timeline seems to have been the least of the problems, and ... well, it's a long and not very interesting story.)  Anyway, I'm learning not to be surprised when for any element of the Portuguese bureaucratic processes, each time I read how it's supposed to work, I get a different story.

Laws related to the land registration on the BUPi:

Lei n.º 78/2017, de 17 de agosto 2017

https://dre.pt/dre/detalhe/lei/78-2017-108010874

Artigo 19.º

Dever de apresentação de representação gráfica georreferenciada

1 - Nos registos de aquisição efetuados a partir da data de entrada em vigor do presente regime é obrigatória a indicação do número de representação gráfica georreferenciada, exceto nos casos em que mediante consulta oficiosa no BUPi se verifique que a mesma já tenha sido entregue.

Documents that you need to be aware of when buying a Property in Portugal. These documents should be made available to you by the owner/seller, before signing anything in any Real Estate Transaction / "Escritura de Compra-Venda no Notário":

A. Owner's Citizen Card ( id card + tax id number)


B. "Caderneta Predial": it's a document, issued by the Portuguese Tax Authority ("AT Finanças"), which is indispensable in the purchase, sale or rental of a property. The property and the owner must be well identified there. The "caderneta predial" is valid for 6 months.


C."Certidão Permanente": issued by the "Conservatória do Registo Predial" / Property Registry Office.

This certificate contains relevant information and describes in detail the property's legal history in terms of its legal constitution and location. It has information on the building's structure, the owner's identification ( who are the real owners ! ), and very important, if the property has charges / "encargos", such as mortgages / "hipotecas", registered usufruct or arrests, and any pending registrations, thus allowing full legal knowledge of the property situation. The certificate of property registration is a guarantee of security for the buyer's property before the real estate transaction. This certificate is valid for 6 months.


D. "Licença de Habitação"/ Usage License: document issued by the "Câmara Municipal"/ City Council where the property is located and which defines the type of use allowed for a certain building or fraction: housing, or non-housing purposes (commerce, services or industry). This licence allows to prove that a certain property or independent fractions complies with:

- The legal and regulatory requirements or standards for the purpose for which they are intended (concerning safety, health and technical standards);

- The conformity of the built work with the architectural design and speciality projects approved for licensing by the competent authorities (namely the City Council);

- The adequacy to the foreseen uses.

What are the situations where it is not necessary Usage License?
- Properties (buildings or fractions) built before August 7, 1951 are exempt from submitting the respective utilisation permit; On this date the General Regulations for Urban Buildings (RGEU) came into force and this regulation provides for exemption only if the property has not undergone expansion works or has been rebuilt;

- In case that are not habitable or usable for commerce, industry or services.


E. "Certificado Energético" / Energy Certificate: The energy certification of buildings allows the buyer/consumer to have information on the energy performance of buildings, which includes the cost reduction concerning energy use, the improvement of thermal comfort and access to financing and tax benefits. It is mandatory for the owner to have this energy certificate from the very beginning, that is, since the sales's notice of his property in a real state agency.
-@JohnnyPT

@harunasafuro Thank you very much for the information regarding what needs to be considered before purchasing a property in Portugal.  I personally think it is very useful for all those who wanna buy properties from estate developers or agents

Best regards

Dr Osman Tweneboah

Procedures that sellers have to fulfill:

How to request the energy certificate:

The energy certificate costs about 180-350 euros (it depends on the house typology). For this, the seller need to contact a certified company / technician who does this work.

Search for certified technicians here: Select the region, district and county, then click on "Pesquisar / Search". You will get a list of names, you can choose the technician and ask to be contacted by e-mail / phone:

https://www.sce.pt/pesquisa-de-tecnicos/

This is an example of an energy certificate:

https://www.sce.pt/certificacao-energet … sumidores/

Download it by clicking at:

"Clique aqui para descarregar uma versão exemplificativa do certificado Energético de Edifício de Habitação"

It includes issues related eg. to the efficiency of heating and cooling of the house.

You can translate PDF into English using a Doctranslator, such as:

https://www.onlinedoctranslator.com

_________________________________________________________________________

How to request the ownership certificate:

A certificate of ownership (certidão permanente) costs about 15 to 20 euros and can be requested here:

https://www.predialonline.pt/PredialOnline/

It is an easy online process, you make the request, you receive an ATM reference to pay at Multibanco ATM network or at homebanking, and then you receive the ownership certificate by email. It takes 1-2 working days.

You don't need a lawyer for this... but if you want, you can contact a solicitor.

Lawyers & solicitors :

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=941009

Scams you should look out for:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=845682

You should never buy at a distance and always want to check the property and who you are dealing with in person.

Good & bad experiences with real estate agencies/agents

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1027973

@JohnnyPT Ok thanks for the example of the Performance Energy Certificate. The agent whose flat I was looking at has an 'E' which is not very good ; however, she said, 'oh but the certificate was done before the renovation'. I understand that a certificate is good for 10 years, but from what I read, it had to be redone if some extensive renovation was undertaken last year. So, I guess I don't understand why the owner didn't bother to have another one requested that could have greatly improved the grading which can potentially be translated to a higher selling price. Buyers usually make adjustment in the offer for a higher graded energy performance certificate.

@Julia,

Do not buy anything with an energy certificate that does not correspond to the current real conditions of the house. The certificate is valid for 10 years, but only if there has been no relevant modification/ renovation in the meantime. You can demand that the seller has an updated certificate.

The minimum is a C. Otherwise you'll get the same problems you've been having so far ...

@JohnnyPT Thanks for your input.

One of the houses I looked at, had no CE but they were working on it, and the agent emailed it to me a couple days later.  She may have done something to accelerate the process.  I would expect the same with an apartment where recent revisions would make a difference - you could expect a new CE to be forthcoming.

Otherwise - I mean, if it's just a story - that would make me even less interested, since one ideally would want to be able to have a little trust in the agent.

@donn25 The agent is supposed to make it available to read to potential buyers right ? They seem to minimize its importance but it's an interesting report that gives you an idea of what you are buying. In fact, this certificate is there to protect buyers, no matter what agents may say.

@JohnnyPT Thank you for publishing property document information. I am buying a new build directly from a builder and he is reluctant to provide information on the property. Unfortunately, I've already given him tens of thousands of euros. I've bought and sold without issue in the past. Do you know of an excellent but reasonably priced attorney. If I continue to have issues with the builder, are there various agencies you recommend contacting? Thanks again.

Where are you buying? Our lawyer in situated in Caldas and speaks v good English. He has been helpful with our property purchase and I do trust him, he also seems quite knowledgeable. Overall we find him very open and direct.

However he is a one man band so replies from him are not as prompt say as you would get from a UK lawyer.

If his location suits you, I would be happy to recommend him and pass on details

Roz

@JohnnyPT Im curious why youi dont mention the two most confusing documents required - a habitation license (post 1951) or pre 1951 certificate (of antiquity), without which I understand a bank will not offer a mortgage?

Hi @atabor2019, Welcome.

You are quite right. But there is a reason for the "omission". The permanent certificate of the property (Certidão Permanente), usually makes reference to the dwelling permit, including the number of the permit and the day it was issued by the Câmara Municipal where the property is located.

It should contain something like this:

AP. xxx - Autorização de Utilização

Nº AUTORIZAÇÃO : nnn

DATA AUTORIZAÇÃO : aaaa/mm/dd

---

More info on the dwelling permit (Autorização de residência):

https://supercasa.pt/noticias/licenca-d … dade/n3087

https://www.comparaja.pt/blog/licenca-de-habitacao

(...)

@marclarsson50

be very careful to hire the right lawyer- we just lost a place AFTER having already signed a promissory or pre contract / instead of signing it, the seller let us know he sold to someone else.

Since my lawyer insisted on waiting until every single document including the Telas Finals, were in, it took about one month until the contract was drafted. Both the agent and us urged the lawyer ( who's German with a Portuguese license and specializes in real estate) to finish the promissory with conditions to supply the telas later - but to no avail

now I'm on the hook for 60% of 1,5% of the purchase price and 23% Tax for .:::: nothing! I never signed a binding agreement - wondering if I should pay. It's a big hit

Hi there,

I've two questions:

Q 1: it is possible for an Australian citizen ( no third country) to buy a property in Portugal (not for golden visa!)?

Q 2: e.g. land 1650m² + rustico 160m² which should be re-build + other two buildings on the same land spot (tools house + animal house), that mean that the re-build house can be about 165m² and the other two can be transformed in living houses?

Thanks for the feedback.

1. Yes, he can. But he has to have a NIF and if he doesn't live in Portugal, he has to appoint a local tax representative to represent him at the Portuguese tax authorities (AT).

2. Yes, if you're rehabilitating what's already there, with very few changes to the ground's implantation/ layout. Otherwise, you'll need to get a building licence from the local council in the area where the land is located. And in this case, the AT must also be informed of these changes, as this will modify the land registry itself and IMI land tax as well.

@chrisschubert21

Yes, anyone can buy property in Portugal, but to live here more than 3 months, you need a resident visa.

***

So, that mean that with a tourist visa it's not possible to buy a property!?

Yes.

@Chris,

You can buy real estate in Portugal without a visa. There is no requirement to have a Portuguese visa or be a resident of Portugal when buying property. Applying for a visa or residency allows you to live in Portugal and it is separate from owning property.

However, there is a limitation to buying property in Portugal as a non-resident. Without applying for residency, you are only allowed to stay in Portugal for up to 90 days out of 180 days. This means that, if you own a property in Portugal, you can live in it yourself for up to 90 days only.

If you are non-resident, you must have a local tax representative. Anyone who resides in Portugal and is a tax resident can act as your NIF tax representative. He will be responsible for ensuring that all taxes are paid.