Property documents to check before you buy in Portugal

A Portuguese home can look perfect on a viewing and still come with a problem you cannot see: an old mortgage, an extension nobody licensed, a tenant with a right to buy it first. The paperwork is where those problems show up, and almost all of it can be checked before you sign anything.

Portugal is actually a good country for this. The land registry and the tax register are online, most documents cost little or nothing, and the official record usually tells you clearly who owns a property and what is attached to it. The catch is knowing which documents to ask for, what each one proves, and how to spot when they do not match each other or the house in front of you. This guide walks through the full list.

The land registry certificate (certidão permanente)

If you only look at one document, make it this one. The certidão permanente do registo predial is the official land registry record for the property, kept by the registry office (Conservatória do Registo Predial) and available online through the Predial Online service. It tells you:

• Who the registered owner is, which should be the person, couple or company selling to you. If the seller is not the registered owner, find out why before going further (an inheritance not yet registered is a common reason, and it needs to be sorted out first).
• A description of the property, including its areas and, for a flat, which unit (fração) of the building it is.
• Charges on it (ónus and encargos): mortgages (hipotecas), seizures by a court or the tax office (penhoras), usufruct rights, rights of way and similar.

A mortgage on the certificate is normal. Most sellers still owe money to a bank and pay it off at the deed, with the bank's release registered afterwards. What matters is that every charge is cancelled at or before completion, and that your lawyer has a plan for how. A penhora (seizure) is a more serious sign and needs a clear explanation.

Anyone can request the certificate, not only the owner. Online it costs €15 and gives you access for six months, against about €20 at a registry office, per Santander and Doutor Finanças. During those six months the online version updates automatically if something new is registered, according to DECO Proteste. Check it again a few days before the deed, because a charge registered last week will not be on the copy you looked at two months ago.

The tax record (caderneta predial)

The caderneta predial is the property's entry in the tax register (the matriz) kept by the Autoridade Tributária. It shows the tax article number, the owner for tax purposes, the areas, the use and the tax value, the VPT (valor patrimonial tributário), which is what your annual IMI property tax is based on.

The owner can download it free from the Portal das Finanças in a couple of minutes, per Doutor Finanças and Santander, so there is no reason for a seller not to provide it. When you read it, ask three questions:

• Does it match the land registry? Same owner, same article number, broadly the same areas and description.
• Does it match reality? A caderneta for a two-bedroom flat with 80 square metres, when you are viewing a three-bedroom flat with an extra 30 square metres, is a warning that something was changed without being declared or licensed.
• Is it urban or rustic? We come back to this below, because it changes what you are actually allowed to do with the land.

The VPT also gives you a rough feel for your future IMI bill. It is usually well below the market price, which is normal. You can read more about how that annual tax works in our guide to Portugal's IMI property tax.

The use licence, and homes built before 1951

The licença (or autorização) de utilização is the municipal permit confirming that a building can be used for its stated purpose, for example housing. Until recently the notary had to see it before the deed could be signed.

That changed with the Simplex urbanístico reform, Decreto-Lei 10/2024: from 2024 the use licence and the ficha técnica no longer had to be shown at the deed, per Santander. Since 1 October 2026, though, Decreto-Lei 108/2026 requires the deed to state the property's planning title situation: that it exists and is shown, that the seller declares having it, or that there is none. Leaving it out makes the sale open to challenge, per idealista. That does not mean they stopped mattering. As Montepio points out, the buyer still needs to confirm the property is legal, and the place to do it is before the promissory contract (the CPCV), not after. In practice banks usually still ask for proof that the home is licensed before they lend, per Doutor Finanças.

Older homes have their own rule. Buildings put up before the general building regulations (the RGEU) came into force on 7 August 1951 did not need a use licence, provided they have not been altered, enlarged or rebuilt since. To prove it, the usual route is a certificate from the câmara (the municipality) confirming the building predates 1951, per Santander. Getting one can take weeks, so if you are buying a village house or a city-centre building of that age, ask the seller early whether they already have it.

The energy certificate

The certificado energético rates a home from A+ (most efficient) to F, under the national certification system (SCE) run by ADENE. It is mandatory when a home is sold or let, and the energy class has to be shown in the advert itself, per idealista. If a listing has no energy class, that is worth a question.

The seller pays for it. A qualified assessor issues it after a visit, and prices vary with the size of the property and the assessor: for an ordinary flat they are typically in the low hundreds of euros, with a range of about €140 to €950 reported on Zaask and more detail from DECO Proteste. For you as a buyer, the useful part is inside the certificate: it lists the main weaknesses of the home (single glazing, no insulation, inefficient heating) and the improvements recommended, which is a quick guide to how cold or expensive the place may be to run.

The ficha técnica for newer homes

The ficha técnica da habitação is a technical sheet describing how a home was built: materials, installations, areas and the people responsible for the project. It became required for homes built or substantially renovated from 30 March 2004, per idealista.

Like the use licence, it no longer has to be shown at the deed after the Simplex reform, per AC Arquitetos. For a home built after 2004 it is still worth asking for. A seller or developer who can hand it over has usually kept the rest of the paperwork in order too, and the details are useful for your surveyor and for any future works.

Condominium debts

If you are buying a flat, the building is a condominium and each owner pays a share of the common costs. Since a 2022 change to the Civil Code (article 1424.º-A), the seller can obtain a declaration from the building administrator listing any unpaid charges on the unit, as well as approved charges that will fall due later, such as works already voted for, per idealista.

Ask for it, and read it. As a rule, debts that were due before the sale belong to the seller. But a buyer can expressly waive the declaration at the deed, and if you do, you take on the risk of any condominium debts on the unit. A large roof or facade repair already approved by the owners' meeting is also something you want to know about before you agree a price, not after.

Preference rights: who can buy first

In some cases another party has a legal right to buy the property on the same terms you agreed, ahead of you. These are direitos de preferência, and the common ones are:

• Public entities. Municipalities and some other public bodies can have a preference right in certain areas, for example historic centres or zones covered by specific plans. The seller announces the sale on the state Casa Pronta portal, and those entities have 10 working days to respond, per idealista.
• Tenants. A tenant who has rented the home for more than two years generally has a right to buy it first, and has 30 days to answer once they receive the seller's notice, per idealista.
• Neighbours and co-owners in particular situations, such as adjoining rustic plots or a property owned in shares.

None of this is unusual, and in most sales nobody exercises the right. But the notices have to be given properly before the deed, and if you are buying a home with a tenant in it, ask early whether the tenant has been notified and whether the tenancy continues after the sale.

Urban or rustic land, and illegal extensions

Every property in Portugal is registered as urbano (urban), rústico (rustic) or mixed. This matters more than many buyers realise, particularly in the countryside. A rustic plot is agricultural or forest land in the tax register, and as a rule you cannot simply build a house on it. Whether anything can be built depends on the municipal master plan (the PDM) and on protections such as agricultural or ecological reserves, not on what the advert says.

So if you are buying land, a ruin or a farmhouse, ask the câmara in writing what can be built or rebuilt there before you pay a deposit. "Ruin with potential" can mean exactly that, or it can mean a pile of stones on rustic land where the municipality will not approve a house.

The other classic problem is an extension that exists in real life but not on paper: a closed-in balcony, an extra bedroom, a converted garage, a pool or an annex. If it is not in the caderneta, the registry and the licensed plans, it may not be legal. That can affect your mortgage, your insurance and your ability to sell later, and in a bad case the câmara can order it to be legalised at your cost or removed. Your lawyer compares the documents, and an independent survey compares them with the building itself. You want both.

A simple checklist

Before you sign a CPCV and pay a deposit, you, your lawyer or the person acting for you should be able to tick off the following:

• The seller is the registered owner on a fresh certidão permanente, and every charge on it will be cancelled at or before the deed.
• The caderneta, the registry and the house all describe the same property, with the same areas and the same number of rooms.
• There is a use licence, a pre-1951 certificate, or a clear explanation of why neither is needed, and your bank is happy with it if you are borrowing.
• You have seen the energy certificate and, for a newer home, the ficha técnica.
• For a flat, you have the condominium declaration and you know about any approved works.
• Any preference rights have been dealt with, and you know the position of any tenant.
• For land or a rural home, the câmara has confirmed in writing what you can build or rebuild.

This is the same ground covered by a careful lawyer's due diligence, and it is also where most property scams fall apart: fake owners and phantom listings do not survive a fresh registry certificate.