This article on owning a home in Portugal covers what happens after the deed is signed. Utilities, condominium life, insurance, running costs, your car and your driving licence. The tax side, IMI, AIMI and capital gains, sits under taxes in Portugal.

The first week

Six things, in this order.

Transfer the utilities into your name. Electricity, water, gas. You need your NIF, the deed and a Portuguese IBAN.
Register your address at the junta de freguesia. Several later steps depend on this record existing.
Update your address with Finanças through the Portal das Finanças. Tax notices go to the registered address, and Portuguese deadlines run from the date of notification rather than from the date you read the letter.
Register with your Centro de Saúde and get your Número de Utente.
Set up home insurance. Mandatory for apartments, and standard practice for houses.
Contact the condominium administrator if you bought an apartment, to be added to the owner register and set up payment.

Utilities

Electricity

The market is liberalised, so you choose your supplier. EDP, Galp, Iberdrola, Endesa and several smaller providers compete. Switching is straightforward and can be done online.

Compare the standing charge, the potência contratada, alongside the unit rate. A higher contracted power gives you the capacity to run several appliances at once, and you pay for that capacity every month whether you use it or not. Many properties are set higher than the occupants need.

Water

Water is supplied by the municipality, so there is no choice of provider and no switching. Rates vary considerably between câmaras. Transfer the account at the local water company office or online where available.

Gas

Piped natural gas exists in the cities and larger towns. Elsewhere, bottled gas is normal. Bottles are delivered or bought at petrol stations and supermarkets, and the deposit on the bottle is separate from the gas.

Internet

Fibre coverage in Portugal is among the best in Europe and reaches well into rural areas. MEO, NOS and Vodafone are the main providers, and bundles combining internet, television and mobile are the standard offer.

Read the contract term. Most bundles lock you in for 24 months and early termination carries a fee.

Living in a condominium

If you bought an apartment, you are now a member of a condomínio, whether you engage with it or not.

The monthly charge

Every owner pays a monthly condominium fee covering shared costs: cleaning, lighting in common areas, lift maintenance, building insurance for the common parts, and the administrator's fee. Buildings with a pool, gardens or security cost more.

Your share is set by the permilagem, your fraction's share of the building expressed in thousandths, recorded in the property register.

The reserve fund

Portuguese law requires each condominium to maintain a common reserve fund for major works. Owners contribute an amount equal to at least 10% of their annual condominium contribution.

Before buying, ask what is in the fund. A building with a depleted reserve and a roof approaching replacement means a special assessment is coming, and it will land on whoever owns the flat at that point.

Late payment

Many condominiums charge a penalty for late payment, commonly 50% of the amount owed. This is not automatic under the law. It applies only where the condominium regulation provides for it or the assembly has approved it, so check your building's rules. Interest on late payment is separate and does apply.

The assembly

The condominium meets at least once a year in a general assembly to approve accounts, set the budget and decide on works. Decisions bind every owner, including those who did not attend.

Meetings are conducted in Portuguese. If your Portuguese is limited, attend anyway and ask a neighbour or the administrator for a summary afterwards. Major expenditure is decided in that room.

Insurance

Building insurance is mandatory for apartments under Portuguese law and is normally arranged collectively by the condominium for the common parts, with each owner covering their own fraction. For a house it is not legally required unless you have a mortgage, in which case the lender will insist on it.

Contents insurance is optional and separate. Most policies sold as seguro multirriscos habitação combine both.

Check what is excluded. Flood, seismic risk and swimming pools are commonly outside standard cover or carry an additional premium. Portugal has real seismic exposure, particularly in the Lisbon area and the Algarve, and earthquake cover is worth pricing rather than assuming.

Running costs to plan for

Beyond the monthly bills, four things catch new owners out.

Heating. Portuguese housing stock is poorly insulated by northern European standards and central heating is uncommon. Winter electricity bills in a stone house in the Centro or the Norte can be several times the summer figure. Budget for it before your first January rather than after.

Damp. Coastal and northern properties are prone to it. Dehumidifiers are normal household equipment here, not an emergency measure.

Pools. A private pool carries year-round maintenance, chemicals, pump electricity and an annual service. It is one of the larger recurring costs attached to a villa and it does not stop in winter.

Gardens. In the Algarve and the Alentejo, summer irrigation is a meaningful water bill. Properties advertised with mature gardens carry that cost with them.

Your car

Bringing a vehicle from abroad

If you are moving from outside the EU, or bringing a vehicle you already own from another EU country, you may qualify for exemption from ISV, the vehicle registration tax, under transfer of residence relief.

Conditions: you must have owned the vehicle for at least six months before the move, you must have lived outside Portugal for at least twelve months, and you must submit the customs declaration, the DAV, within 20 days of the vehicle arriving.

Miss the deadline and the exemption is lost. ISV on a mid-sized car is substantial, so the deadline is worth diarising the day the vehicle ships.

Non-EU vehicles also attract customs duty and VAT unless the relief applies.

After registration you pay IUC, the annual road tax, based on engine size, emissions and the vehicle's age.

Buying locally instead

For most people, selling the car at home and buying in Portugal is simpler and often cheaper once the tax, shipping and homologation costs of importing are counted. Cars are expensive in Portugal, but the process is straightforward and the vehicle arrives already registered, inspected and legal.

Inspection

Vehicles require periodic inspection, the IPO. First inspection at four years, then every two years, then annually once the vehicle passes eight years. It is done at a licensed centre and takes under an hour.

Your driving licence

EU and EEA licences

Your licence remains valid. You are not required to exchange it. You must register your address with IMT, the transport authority, within 60 days of establishing residence, which is an administrative registration rather than an exchange.

Many people exchange anyway, because a Portuguese licence simplifies dealings with insurers, rental companies and the police.

Non-EU licences

Licences from countries with a reciprocal agreement, which includes most OECD members and the CPLP countries, can be exchanged for a Portuguese licence without a driving test, subject to conditions including a medical certificate and, above certain age thresholds, additional assessment.

Licences from countries without an agreement require you to sit the Portuguese test, both theory and practical, in Portuguese.

The exchange fee is €30. You also need a medical certificate from a Portuguese doctor and a certified translation of the original licence.

There is a deadline. Once you are resident, you have a limited period to exchange, and after it expires you may have to take the full test instead. Start early rather than at the end of your first year.

Selling later

Two things are worth knowing now rather than at the point of sale.

Capital gains on a Portuguese property are taxable, on the same basis for residents and non-residents since the flat non-resident rate was repealed. Half the gain is added to your other income and taxed at progressive rates. The detail sits under taxes in Portugal.

Keep every invoice for improvement works, with the property's NIF reference on it. Documented capital improvements increase your acquisition cost and reduce the taxable gain. Receipts thrown away during a renovation are money given to the tax authority years later.

Settling in

Two practical habits make the first year easier.

Meet your neighbours early. Portugal runs on personal relationships, and the neighbour who knows you is the one who tells you which electrician actually turns up.

Register for the Chave Móvel Digital, the national digital identity. It gives you access to most public services online, including tax, social security, school enrolment and vehicle records, and it removes a large number of in-person appointments from your life.