This article on buying and selling property in Portugal covers the legal steps from the first offer to the registration in your name: the promissory contract, the checks to make before you commit, the documents for the deed, and what happens after it. Taxes on the purchase are covered in full in the taxes guide and the tax calculator, linked below.

A property sale in Portugal is a legal act with formal rules. Only a lawyer or a solicitor can give legal advice on it and draft the contracts. Use one from the start, before you sign anything or pay a deposit.

The steps, in order

Agree the price and the conditions with the seller.
Check the property at the Land Registry, the Tax Office and the Town Hall.
Sign the promissory contract, the CPCV, and pay the deposit.
If you are buying with a mortgage, wait for the bank's approval. The bank usually asks for provisional registrations.
Pay IMT and stamp duty before the deed.
Sign the deed and pay the rest of the price.
The purchase is registered in your name.

Checks before you commit

Most questions about a property's legal status are answered by its documents. Each office below holds one part of the picture.

At the Land Registry (Conservatória do Registo Predial)

The property matches the seller's description, the tax record and the project approved by the Town Hall.
The seller is the current and only owner, and so is entitled to sell.
No mortgage or seizure is registered or pending in favour of anyone else.
No other registered right limits the use of the property.

At the Tax Office (Finanças)

The tax description of the property matches the Land Registry description.
No IMI is owed on the property.
The property has been valued under the IMI Code, and what its taxable value (VPT) is. IMI is charged on that value.
The property is declared as vacant. This is not proof: a lease that was never declared to Finanças does not show here.

At the Town Hall (Câmara Municipal)

A construction or usage licence was issued, and what was built matches the approved project.
For land: whether building is allowed, whether a subdivision permit exists, and what can be built.
Whether the Town Hall or the State has a right of first refusal (pre-emption) on the property.

Rights of first refusal held by others

Other people can also hold a right of first refusal: tenants of the property, owners of adjoining rural land, and owners of rural land in the same National Agricultural Reserve area. When such a right exists, the seller must prove that its holders were notified and gave it up, either in writing or by letting the deadline pass.

The seller's mortgage

If a mortgage is registered on the property, the seller must cancel it, and bring the cancellation document to the deed at the latest. This is routine with new builds: developers finance a project with the units as collateral and cancel the mortgage on each unit as it sells.

The building itself

Visit the property before you buy. Confirm the areas, the boundaries, the state of repair, and anything nearby that could affect how you use it.

The promissory contract (CPCV)

The contrato-promessa de compra e venda, the CPCV, is the contract in which buyer and seller commit to signing the deed later. It is optional, but it is the normal step whenever the deed cannot be signed yet: the building is not finished, the horizontal property is not yet set up, the usage licence is missing, or the buyer is waiting for a mortgage. It binds both sides now and sets out what happens if either side fails to complete.

What it should contain

Full identification of the parties and, for a company, who signs for it and with what powers.
Full identification of the property: location and layout, Land Registry description number, tax article number, and the usage or construction licence, or the reason none is needed.
Whether the promise binds one side or both, and whether the property is sold free of mortgages and other charges, and empty of people and belongings.
The price, the deposit and any further payments, with their dates.
The deadline for the deed and who arranges it.
Any conditions on the sale, and what happens if they are not met.
The seller's declarations: the areas match the registry, tax and licensing records; no debt to Finanças is linked to the property; no lease or other contract limits its use; no court case or official notice affects it; and the installations for water, electricity, sewage and gas work.
Any works or repairs the seller must do before the deed, and the seller's duty to correct any mismatch found in the documents.
Whether an estate agent took part in the sale.
How notices between the parties are sent, and which court, or arbitration, settles a dispute.

For a building or a unit that is finished, under construction or planned, the signatures on the CPCV must be personally certified, and a notary or lawyer must certify that the usage or construction licence exists (Article 410(3) of the Civil Code).

If one side does not complete

The CPCV can set its own consequences. Where it does not, the Civil Code applies (Article 442):

If the buyer fails to complete, the buyer loses the deposit.
If the seller fails to complete, the seller returns double the deposit. Where the buyer already has possession of the property, the buyer can instead claim the value of the property on the date of the breach, minus the agreed price, plus the deposit and any part of the price already paid.

A delay is not yet a breach. The contract should set a reasonable final deadline after the date of the deed (Articles 801 to 808 of the Civil Code). The party waiting sends a written notice with that deadline. If it passes, a second written notice declares the contract breached, and the deposit rule above applies.

Instead of the deposit rule, the party that kept its word can ask a court for specific performance (Article 830 of the Civil Code): a judgment that takes the place of the other side's signature and completes the sale.

Passing the CPCV to someone else

The CPCV can allow the buyer to assign their position to a third party, who then takes over all the buyer's rights and duties and releases the original buyer. Without that clause, the seller must agree. Tax law treats an assignment, and even a clause that allows one, as a transfer for IMT purposes. Ask your lawyer to work out the IMT before you sign a CPCV with that clause.

Provisional registration

A provisional registration puts your purchase on the Land Registry before the deed, so that nothing registered later by someone else, such as a seizure or a mortgage, takes priority over it.

Provisional registration of the purchase: the seller declares that the property has been promised to you at the CPCV price. The seller signs the request with a certified signature, or in person at the Land Registry. If the CPCV has certified signatures, your lawyer or you can sign the request instead, attaching the CPCV.
Provisional registration of the mortgage: registers the bank's mortgage before the mortgage deed, which is usually signed together with the purchase deed. Banks commonly require both registrations before they release the loan.

The deed

The sale must be made by public deed, or by an authenticated private document drawn up by a lawyer or solicitor, which has the same legal effect. It can be signed at a notary's office, at a Casa Pronta desk of the Ministry of Justice, or before a lawyer or solicitor with powers to authenticate it. Buyer and seller usually sign in person. A bank representative, a proxy for either side, a spouse whose consent is required, or an interpreter for a party who does not understand Portuguese may also take part.

Documents of the parties

Individuals: citizen card, identity card or passport; Portuguese tax number (NIF); marital status and property regime; place of birth.
Companies: commercial registry certificate less than one year old, the identification of the legal representatives, any board or shareholder minutes required, and the access code to the beneficial owners register (RCBE).

Documents of the property

Land Registry certificate, or the access code to the online permanent certificate, less than six months old. It shows the description of the property, its registration in the seller's name, and any charges that must be cancelled by the deed, such as mortgages, seizures, easements or pre-emption agreements.
Caderneta predial, the tax record, issued or updated less than one year ago. It shows the owner, the areas, the layout, the neighbouring properties and the VPT.
Usage licence from the Town Hall. A construction licence can replace it in some cases. It is not needed for a building made before 7 August 1951, when the general building rules came into force, or registered at the Tax Office in 1937.
Urbanisation works certificate, only for the first sale of a plot or unit in a new development.
Housing technical data sheet (Ficha Técnica da Habitação), for homes whose usage licence was applied for after 30 March 2004. See below.
Waivers of pre-emption rights from the Town Hall, from Património Cultural, I.P. (which replaced the DGPC on 1 January 2024), or from neighbouring owners of rural land, where such rights exist.
Energy certificate.
Proof that IMT and stamp duty are paid, unless the purchase is exempt.

If you are buying with a mortgage, ask your bank for its own list early. It usually includes the provisional registrations.

The housing technical data sheet

The Ficha Técnica da Habitação describes the technical and functional features of a home. For a home whose usage licence was applied for after 30 March 2004, the deed cannot be signed without it, on the first sale and on every sale after.

It names the main professionals of the project and the works, and the developer.
It gives the home's warranty and how to use it, the condominium rules and service contracts, and how to maintain equipment that needs special care.
The approved plans are an annex and part of the document.
It is typed, not handwritten, and written in Portuguese. The developer and the site manager sign it.

On a home still being built, ask for the provisional version. Keep the sheet while you own the home and hand it to the next buyer. If it is lost, the developer, which must keep it for ten years, or the Town Hall can provide a copy.

Taxes on the purchase

IMT, the property transfer tax, and stamp duty are paid before the deed, and the proof of payment is shown at it. Both are charged on the price or the VPT, whichever is higher. Whether you are a Portuguese tax resident changes the IMT a great deal: buyers who are not tax resident pay a flat 7.5% on residential property, from the first euro. Rates, exemptions, IMT Jovem, the payment window and worked examples are all in taxes in Portugal, and the tax calculator gives the amount for your purchase.

After the deed

The notary or lawyer who handled the deed registers the purchase in your name at the Land Registry, and the tax record is updated to the new owner. From the day of the purchase, you pay the property's taxes and charges, including IMI and the condominium fees.

Deed and registration fees depend on the notary or lawyer and on the type of act. The current registration fees are published on the IRN portal (Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado).

If you are selling

The seller provides the property documents listed above, cancels any mortgage by the deed, and answers for the declarations made in the CPCV. A gain on the sale can be taxed. Capital gains, and the exclusion for property bought before 1989, are covered in taxes in Portugal.

The full Living in Portugal guide

Living in Portugal

01. Visas and Residency in Portugal

02. Portuguese Citizenship

03. Getting a NIF in Portugal

04. Opening a Bank Account in Portugal

05. Cost of Living in Portugal

06. Healthcare in Portugal

07. Learning Portuguese

08. Renting a Property in Portugal

09. Taxes In Portugal

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