To purchase or rent any property, a dwelling permit (Licença de Utilização) must be obtained.
There are a number of considerations and procedures while doing real estate transactions. One of the administrative and legal processes that must be followed is the usage permission, often known as a dwelling permit. Any real estate transaction in Portugal, including the leasing, buying, and selling of residential properties or any other kind, cannot be completed without this document.
What is a dwelling permit, who grants them, and for what purposes?
The license of use consists of a document issued by the Municipality of the territory where a property is located, in order to authorize and attest to the use for which it is intended, being issued after the completion of construction works or deep rehabilitation and after inspection by the City Council for this purpose.
Is a dwelling permit always required to be presented?
Depending on the type of use the property is intended for, such as whether it will be used for housing, commerce, industry, or services, etc., this license is a document that is essential to the sale or lease of a property and must meet specific requirements from an architectural and legal standpoint.
It is customarily required, for the purpose of buying and selling real estate under these conditions, to obtain a certificate issued by the City Council to attest that it is before the date of entry into force of the General Regulation of Urban Buildings (RGEU) and, as such, is exempt from a licence. All properties prior to 1951 are exempt from the dwelling permit because their imposition was only created with the entry into force of the RGEU.
Does the dwelling permit have an expiration date or is it perpetual?
The dwelling permit is a document wihtout an expiration date, however if work is done to modify the property for which it already imposes a specific license, it will undoubtedly need to be changed.
There are a series of regulations that must be followed for the conversion of the use of the property, depending on the purpose for which it is intended. If the use of a specific property needs to be changed, the City Council must be consulted.