Registering A Property

Under a new law, Decreto-Lei nº 116/2008 of 4th July, and in accordance with the Simplex programme, new measures have been introduced to simplify the bureaucratic process of registering a property and to reduce the costs involved by about 50%. Some measures were introduced a few days ago on 21st July and others will come into effect on 1st January 2009 (also see the Casa Pronta post).

Under this new legislation, the buyer will know from the start the exact costs involved in registering a property, which up until now has been something difficult to find out with any great certainty. There will be a fixed and single price for all property transactions presented in a list showing the various items that have to be paid to the different bodies.

There will also be the elimination of the obligatory public deed and you will now be able to use any of the 337 Conservatórias de Registo Predial in Portugal to carry out the acts of buying and selling, not just your local one.