What to check before buying a new-build
With a new-build or off-plan home, almost all the risk sits in the promissory contract (CPCV): the building permit, the deposit, the developer's mortgage and IMT that can fall due before the deed. Check all of it before you pay — once you have signed, you only get the deposit back doubled if the seller is the one who defaults (artigos 441.º e 442.º do Código Civil).
Off-plan: the promissory contract has a required form
When the CPCV concerns a building or unit that is finished, under construction or yet to be built, the signatures must be certified in person and, by the letter of the Civil Code, a building or occupancy licence must be certified to exist (artigo 410.º, n.º 3, do Código Civil). Many works now go ahead on a prior notice instead of a licence: always ask for the building permit and the municipal file number, and make sure they are for this building.
The seller can only rely on these requirements being missing if the buyer was at fault for it. The form is there to protect you: a CPCV that does not identify the building permit is a warning sign, not a detail.
The deposit: what you lose and what you get back
Whatever the buyer pays under the CPCV is presumed to be a deposit (sinal). If the buyer defaults, it is lost; if the seller defaults, the buyer can claim double (artigos 441.º e 442.º do Código Civil).
On a development, the staged top-ups during construction can add up to a large share of the price. Double is only worth something if the developer can pay it: ask for those payments to be covered by a bank guarantee or surety insurance, written into the contract.
IMT can fall due before the deed
If the CPCV lets you assign your position to someone else, IMT is due on signing, and the assignment is taxed again (artigo 2.º do Código do IMT). The clause is common in off-plan sales; if you do not plan to resell before the deed, ask for it to be removed.
Getting the keys before the deed also counts as a purchase for IMT, unless the home is your own permanent residence and the contract does not allow the position to be assigned (artigo 2.º do Código do IMT).
Reduced VAT and IMT for non-residents
Building homes sold as the buyer's permanent residence can carry reduced VAT, and the deed must say so (artigo 10.º do Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026). If you buy one of those homes, you must move your tax address there within six months and keep it as your permanent home for the following 12 months; otherwise you pay an IMT surcharge of 10 % of the taxable value.
A non-resident buyer pays IMT at a single rate of 7,5 % on a home, with no exemptions or reductions, unless you have already been treated as tax resident in Portugal (artigo 17.º, n.º 10, do Código do IMT). The difference is refunded on request if you become tax resident within two years, or if, within six months of buying, you put the home up for letting at a moderate rent and let it for at least 36 months in the first five years; the request is due within six months of becoming resident or signing the lease.
The developer's mortgage
Developments are almost always financed with a mortgage over the land or the building. Before the deed, ask for the permanent land-registry certificate (certidão permanente): it shows mortgages and attachments. Your unit must pass to you free of charges, with the mortgage released in the same act.
If the certificate shows no units yet, the building has not been divided into units in the registry, and the unit you are buying does not exist yet. Ask when it will be registered — and do not book the deed before then.
Energy certificate before the CPCV
The owner must give the buyer a copy of the energy certificate before the CPCV, and the original before the deed (artigo 29.º do Decreto-Lei n.º 101-D/2020). For a home still under construction it is the pre-certificate. The energy class gives an idea of what heating and cooling will cost — compare it between developments as you compare prices.
Defects: the clock starts at handover
Bought a home to live in, as a consumer, from a developer? Under Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021 you have 10 years for structural defects and five years for the rest, from handover. Once you report a defect, your rights lapse after three years if you do not enforce them.
At handover, walk through the home with a list, take photos and put in writing what you find. What is recorded that day is hard to dispute later.
Who is selling: check the licence
Estate agency work is only legal with a licence from IMPIC. Ask anyone acting as an intermediary for the licence number (AMI) — the agency and any specialist you talk to, including through flatin.pt — and check it in the public list before paying anything. A developer selling its own units needs no such licence.
Can I lose my deposit?
Yes, if the buyer defaults. If the seller defaults, the buyer can claim double (artigos 441.º e 442.º do Código Civil).
What should I check before signing an off-plan CPCV?
Certified signatures and the building permit (artigo 410.º, n.º 3, do Código Civil), the permanent registry certificate with any mortgages, the energy certificate (artigo 29.º do Decreto-Lei n.º 101-D/2020) and whether the contract lets the position be assigned.
Can IMT be due before the deed?
Yes: if the CPCV allows the position to be assigned, or if you get the keys before the deed and the home is not your permanent residence (artigo 2.º do Código do IMT).
How much IMT does a non-resident buyer pay?
7,5 % on a home, with no exemptions or reductions; the difference is refunded on request if you become tax resident within two years or let at a moderate rent (artigo 17.º, n.º 10, do Código do IMT).
How long can I claim for defects in a new home?
Buying from a developer as a consumer: 10 years for structural defects and five years for the rest, from handover (Decreto-Lei n.º 84/2021).