What do I need to buy real estate?
In order to be able to buy real estate in Portugal, you require a Portuguese tax number (NIF). If you buy via Terra dos Rios, we will help you to organise that.
It is also a good idea to open a bank account with a Portuguese bank. In order to pay for your purchase, you will need a bank guaranteed cheque and you will probably also need the account for direct debits for water and electricity. Terra dos Rios will also support you with the necessary formalities required for this.
How is real estate registered?
Real estate is registered at the tax office (Finanças) and at the land registry (Conservatória Predial). Every residence or piece of land has its own unique identification number (article).
A distinction is made between urban and rural real estate. There are ´artigos rústicos´ and ´artigos urbanos´. Globally speaking, we can say that a home in a neighbourhood is “urbano” and a piece of agricultural land is ´rústico´. Residences with a residential permit are always urban items.
An excerpt from the land register or the tax office contains information about (among others): the location, the names of the (at the time of the registration) adjacent neighbours, the registration year, the name of the owner or the various owners. In the Netherlands and Belgium we are used to the land register having exact plans of the property. That is not (yet) customary in Portugal. It has been implemented more thoroughly in the one region than in the other.
However, the owners of homes sold after 2004 must submit plans of the residence when they register the homes with the tax department. This way, plans of the registrations are slowly but surely updated.
How do I recognise the boundaries?
And then one of the most fascinating matters: the boundaries of the land. If there is no plan, how do I know what is mine and what belongs to my neighbours? The boundaries are indicated with (natural) characteristics. It concerns a brook, a road, a piece of granite, or in the modern variant: a concrete boundary pole with the initials of the owner.
Terra dos Rios always knows the boundaries and knows how to find the indicators (markers). Before the purchase, we will once again check with you, and possibly with the owner, all the boundaries and marks.
Where may I build?
Every municipality records the intention of the land in a zoning plan (PDM). That plan indicates areas with destinations such as: residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, nature, etc.
You are planning to build a house and found the ideal piece of land for that. Naturally you would like to know whether you will be permitted to do so. If the piece of land has already been registered as a plot, that will quickly be clear. It is more difficult if your ideal destination is situated in the mountains or the bushes. The regulations could differ per municipality and thus per zoning plan. If the destination of the ground offers opportunities to build, the building opportunities can also be determined by factors such as: total size of the land or the fact that a building has already been registered on the land.
Local architects are normally well aware of building opportunities within the destination plan. You can verify this via the municipality. On your request, the municipality will indicate, in writing, the opportunities for a specific location within the destination plan.
When does a home have a residential permit?
If a home is a “recognised residence”, i.e. when it complies with the specifications set by the Portuguese government, it will have a residential permit. The norms applicable to this since 1951 have already been recorded in the Act. Residences can only be sold if it has a residential permit (licença de utilização of licença de habitação) or if it has been registered before 1951.
