Buying a house just got simpler

Over the years, excessive bureaucratization has become one of the most controversial features of the development of economic activities in Portugal. It even deserved criticism from the European Union, given that this excessive bureaucratization harms the country's competitiveness and the attractiveness of national and foreign investment.

Buying, building and selling a property in Portugal was, then, a veritable bureaucratic labyrinth, full of endless requests for documents and unintelligible procedures.

Thus, Portugal, in the incessant search for investment, included in the famous Recovery and Resilience Plan and under the controversial "More Housing" Program, the Simplex Urbanístico, simplifying procedures in the area of urbanism and spatial planning and increasing the fluidity of the internal (and external!) real estate market.

But, in practice, what changes?

With the phased entry into force of the new law (Decree-Law No. 10/2024, of January 8), since January 1, 2024, the formalities related to the purchase and sale of real estate have been simplified, among others, by eliminating the need to show or prove the existence of a housing technical file and authorization of use or the need to prove its unenforceability.

That is, when you sell a property, you will not need to demonstrate that the technical file and the authorization to use them exist or present them, it will be enough, as a general rule, to present the land registry certificate, the land registry and the energy certificate, documents that you can obtain without going to public services and thus save time and money.

In addition to this amendment, the legislator also eliminated some bureaucratic barriers in the construction of real estate, namely: i) the need to obtain urban planning licenses or to carry out prior communications, identifying new cases of exemption or exemption from prior control by municipalities; ii) the need to obtain some licenses, creating new cases in which only prior communication is required; iii) the building permit, which was replaced by the receipt of payment of the fees due; (iv) authorisation to use where the work has been subject to prior control, replacing that authorisation with a mere delivery of documents relating to the project; and v) adopted the regime of tacit approval for building permits.

In short, acts related to real estate have been reduced bureaucracy and have become more transparent and accessible. Now, effectively, it is easier to flow in the real estate market in Portugal. It remains to be seen if, in the end, this will result in more affordable homes for residents in Portugal or in the increase in the acquisition of real estate by foreign funds for real estate speculation. Let's wait, the procession is still in the churchyard.

Telma Vieira Barbosa

Dower Law Firm

Source: Diário Imobiliáro