Buying Property in Portugal

The NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) is the single identifier the Portuguese tax authority attaches to every transaction you make in the country. You cannot reserve a property, open a resident or non-resident bank account, or sign the deed without one.

Most non-resident buyers grant a power of attorney to a lawyer, who obtains the NIF and (where required) acts as fiscal representative. Budget a few days for the number to be issued before you plan to sign anything.

A price per square metre lets you compare very different properties on the same footing. The national median below is the midpoint of dwellings actually sold — half transacted above it, half below — so it is a firmer anchor than headline asking prices.

Always localise it: Lisbon and the Algarve sit well above the national median, while much of the interior sits below. Use the regional data to refine the benchmark for your target market.

The house price index (HPI) measures the change in dwelling prices against a fixed 2015 baseline, so a reading of, say, two hundred means prices have doubled since 2015. Because it controls for the mix of what sells each quarter, it is a cleaner momentum signal than a raw median.

Pair the trend with the current median price and the rental figure on this page to decide whether to move quickly, wait, or widen your search.

A quick gross yield is annual rent divided by purchase price. With the median rent per square metre and the median sale price per square metre — both shown on this page — you can sketch the yield for a typical dwelling before running the numbers on a specific listing.

Rent-first also de-risks the move: a few months in an area tells you far more about noise, light and commute than any listing photo.

The main one-off costs are property transfer tax (IMT), stamp duty, notary and land-registry fees, and your lawyer's fee. Each is a function of the declared price and the property's use, so a fixed percentage quoted in a guide would be misleading.

The cost calculator reads the current statutory rules and returns an itemised estimate for your exact price and situation — with the source of every rate — so you plan against real numbers, not a rule of thumb.

The título urbanístico (urbanistic title) is the municipal authorisation — historically the alvará — that shows a plot or building was licensed for its use. Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026, de 29 de maio, which overhauls the RJUE (Portugal's urbanisation and building code), makes naming that title a formal step in every property transfer.

From 1 October 2026, the notary, lawyer, solicitor or registrar drawing up a deed that transfers building land, a completed or in-progress building, or an autonomous fraction must record one of three statements, under penalty of the transaction being annullable:

• that the corresponding urbanistic title exists and has been presented;
• that the seller declares they hold the title but has not presented it;
• that the seller declares they do not hold an urbanistic title.

The reform moves responsibility from prior State control onto builders and owners: promoters, owners, contractors, project technicians and site directors are made jointly and severally liable for works carried out without or against a title, and false declarations in the works log or responsibility terms are treated as document forgery under the Penal Code.

Foreign buyers should ask which of the three statements will appear on the deed before signing the CPCV (promissory contract). A “does not hold” declaration is a warning that the property may have unlicensed works — a long-standing trap with unregistered annexes, pools or extensions — and warrants a lawyer's review before you commit.

Update (31 July 2026): the entry into force of this deed-declaration rule was postponed to 1 October 2026 by Decreto-Lei n.º 155-B/2026, de 31 de julho (Diário da República n.º 147/2026, Série I, Suplemento). The duty itself is unchanged — only its start date moved.

Regulatory framework complete (effective 1 October 2026): the RJUE reform has since been completed by two further diplomas, both taking effect on the same date. Declaração de Retificação n.º 29-A/2026/1, de 27 de julho (Diário da República n.º 143/2026, Série I, Suplemento) corrects textual inexactitudes in Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026 — the deed-declaration duty itself is unchanged — while Portaria n.º 320/2026/1, de 31 de julho (Diário da República n.º 147/2026, Série I) approves the uniform licence, prior-communication and prior-information request models and the procedural instructory elements, revoking Portarias n.º 71-A/2024 e 71-B/2024.

This is general information about Portuguese property law, not legal advice; confirm any specific transaction with a lawyer registered with the Ordem dos Advogados. Source: Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026, de 29 de maio (Diário da República n.º 104/2026, Série I).

On 12 August 2026 the Portuguese Government filed Proposta de Lei n.º 103/XVII/1 (Governo) in the Assembleia da República (Parliament), a reform of the rental market (arrendamento) under the “Construir Portugal” housing strategy. The stated aim is to increase the supply of homes and restore confidence in letting by making contracts simpler and more predictable. For foreign owners weighing a buy-to-let or renovation purchase, the filed text reveals materially new detail not in the original 9 July 2026 Council-of-Ministers approval.

Renovation and deep-works eviction — 5 years becomes 3. When a landlord plans obras de remodelação ou restauro profundos (deep renovation or restoration works) that require the property to be vacated, the notice period to terminate an open-ended (duração indeterminada) tenancy drops from 5 years to 3 years. The test for qualifying works is simplified to a quantitative cost criterion based on statistical indicators, replacing the current urbanistic thresholds. Compensation when the tenant is displaced is fixed at 2 years' rent, and the current floor pegged to 2 × 1/15 of the property's VPT (patrimonial value) is removed. If the landlord and tenant cannot agree within 30 days (down from 60), the minimum indemnity is 2 months' rent. Tenants aged 65 or over, or with a disability of 60% or more, keep specific protection: the landlord must guarantee rehousing in analogous conditions if no agreement is reached. For lesser conservation works, the landlord may demand vacancy on 3 months' minimum notice, capped at 180 days.

Pre-1990 contracts and transmission on death. When the original tenant (primitivo arrendatário) of a pre-1990 contract dies and the tenancy passes to a spouse or união de facto partner, if the new holder is under 65 the contract transitions to the NRAU (the modern rental regime), opening the door to updating the old rent. Pre-1990 tenants over 65 or with a disability of 60% or more still keep protection: their rent may be updated only when the household's annual income exceeds €64,400.

Tenant pre-emption on sale. The proposal revises the tenant's direito de preferência (pre-emption right) when a leased property is sold. This is directly relevant to any international buyer purchasing a tenanted unit — the pre-emption notice is a standard closing-risk item. The exact wording of the revision is pending detailed analysis of the proposal text.

Faster processes and stronger default remedies. Eviction for rent arrears is triggered at 2 months (down from 3), or when a tenant is late (≥ 8 days) three times in 12 months or four times in 18 months. The separate execution-of-judgment stage is abolished (one single procedure), and appeals lose suspensive effect unless the tenant shows considerable harm and posts caução (security). Eviction and rent-recovery decisions are grouped together, and some formalities are removed.

More contractual freedom. The reform ends rent control on new contracts while leaving contracts already in force unchanged. It gives the parties greater autonomy over deposits (cauções) and advance rents, allows electronic communications by agreement, changes the rules for opposing automatic contract renewal, and creates a Fundo de Emergência para a Habitação (Housing Emergency Fund), managed by the IHRU, offering financial support with automatic award within a maximum of 10 days.

Important — this is not yet law. The text above describes Proposta de Lei n.º 103/XVII/1, filed in Parliament on 12 August 2026 as an autorização legislativa (an authorisation request — Parliament must approve it, then the Government issues a decreto-lei). It is not in force and has no effective date. No vote date is scheduled at the time of writing. Do not assume any of these rules apply to a contract signed today.

What is not yet known. The proposal gives the direction of the reform but the final law — its exact wording, the diploma number, and the effective date — will only exist after Parliament votes and the Government enacts it. Watch for the Diário da República publication before making decisions that depend on the detail.

This is general information about Portuguese housing policy, not legal advice; confirm any specific situation with a lawyer registered with the Ordem dos Advogados. Sources: Parlamento da República, Proposta de Lei n.º 103/XVII/1 (Governo), filed 12 August 2026; Governo de Portugal, “Arrendamento: Governo aprova reforma para aumentar a oferta de habitação” (Conselho de Ministros, 9 de julho de 2026).

On 30 July 2026 Portugal published Decreto-Lei n.º 151/2026 (Diário da República n.º 146/2026, Série I), a temporary and extraordinary measure about how town councils regulate alojamento local (AL) — the licensed short-term-rental category most foreign buy-to-let investors use. It entered into force on 31 July 2026 and produces effects until 31 December 2026. It was made necessary because the 2025 municipal elections interrupted councils that were part-way through drawing up their AL rules.

A deadline to decide. Under the standing regime (Decreto-Lei n.º 128/2014), a municipality that reaches more than 1,000 registered AL establishments must formally decide whether to adopt a municipal AL regulation. DL 151/2026 gives councils that passed that 1,000-registration mark by 31 December 2025, and have not yet decided, until 31 December 2026 to do so.

Suspensions of new registrations can be extended. A municipality may, in specifically delimited areas, suspend new AL registrations while it prepares its regulation. DL 151/2026 lets a council, once, either prorrogate a suspension that is still running, or re-impose a new suspension if the earlier one has already lapsed — in both cases by the assembleia municipal on a proposal from the câmara municipal, limited to the time strictly needed to finish the regulation and never beyond 31 December 2026.

What it does not do. The measure expressly does not substantively change the underlying AL regime; it only buys councils extra time. Any extension or new suspension is not retroactive and does not affect AL registrations validly made before the council's decision. It lapses automatically once the municipal regulation takes effect, once the council expressly ends it, or when the 31 December 2026 limit is reached.

Bottom line for foreign STR buyers. If your plan depends on registering a new Alojamento Local — especially in high-demand councils such as central Lisbon or Porto — assume that new-registration suspensions in those areas can now run through the end of 2026. AL rules are decided municipality by municipality, so always confirm the current position with the specific câmara municipal — and check whether the property already holds a valid AL registration, which this measure does not affect — before signing a CPCV (promissory contract).

This is general information about Portuguese short-term-rental regulation, not legal advice; confirm any specific situation with a lawyer registered with the Ordem dos Advogados. Source: Decreto-Lei n.º 151/2026, de 30 de julho (Diário da República n.º 146/2026, Série I).

Yes — any foreign national can own Portuguese real estate. Portuguese law does not restrict property ownership by nationality, so a non-EU buyer purchases on the same legal footing as a Portuguese resident. There is no minimum price, no special permit to hold title, and no requirement to already live in Portugal.

What you do need first. Every buyer needs a número de identificação fiscal (NIF) — the Portuguese tax number — which non-residents obtain from the tax authority (Autoridade Tributária), in person or through a representative. A non-resident buyer from outside the EU/EEA generally also appoints a fiscal representative resident in Portugal to receive tax correspondence. A local bank account, while not strictly mandatory, makes paying the price, taxes and utilities far simpler.

Ownership is not residency. Buying a home does not, on its own, give you the right to live in Portugal; immigration status is a separate matter under the residence-permit rules. Treat the purchase and any residence application as two distinct processes.

Budget for the full cost of acquisition. The headline price is only part of the outlay: transfer tax, stamp duty, notary and registration fees all apply on top. Estimate the total for your situation with the cost calculator before you commit.

This is general information, not legal advice; confirm any specific situation with a lawyer registered with the Ordem dos Advogados.

The short answer. Under Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026, de 20 de maio, a purchase by a buyer taxed as a non-resident falls under a single flat IMT rate of 7.5%, rather than the progressive taxa marginal scale used for resident buyers. IMT (Imposto Municipal sobre as Transmissões Onerosas de Imóveis) is the one-off tax you pay when the property changes hands.

What the rate is charged on. IMT is calculated on the higher of the price actually paid and the property's tax value (valor patrimonial tributário). Whether you are treated as a resident or a non-resident for this purpose turns on your tax status, not your nationality — the same foreign buyer can be either, depending on where they are tax-resident when they buy.

It is not the only cost. On top of IMT you also pay imposto do selo (stamp duty) on the transfer, plus notary and land-registry fees. Add mortgage costs if you finance the purchase. The figure above is the transfer-tax rate alone — use the cost calculator to see the full acquisition total for your price and situation.

This is general information, not tax advice; confirm your own position with a Portuguese tax adviser or a lawyer registered with the Ordem dos Advogados. Source: Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026, de 20 de maio (Diário da República, Série I).