10 red flags before you sign a CPCV
The promissory contract is where you commit. These are the warning signs we see most often in our practice, before buyers realise what they have agreed to.
The seller can't or won't produce the licença de utilização. Buildings from before 1951 may be exempt, but the exemption must be proven by a council document.
The tax record, the land registry and the listing give different areas. Small differences are common; whole rooms or floors are not.
Enclosed balconies, bedrooms in the attic, annexes, garages or pools that the documents don't show may be unlicensed.
A promise about extensions, pools or annexes with nothing in writing. That is a sentence, not a planning approval.
The land is sold as buildable, but only the municipal master plan says whether it is urban or rural. The tax record doesn't settle it.
Your plans assume no permit is needed. In protected areas the rules depend on the building and the works, and approvals take longer.
The council's archive is the only record that shows what was approved. Tax and land registry records don't check legality.
Leases transfer with the property, and some tenants have a legal right to buy it first.
A large deposit, a short deadline and no conditions. A CPCV can include clauses that protect you, such as financing or a favourable PIP, drafted by your lawyer.
The budget leaves out taxes, fees, time or a margin for the unexpected. Since May 2026, most homes bought by non-residents pay a flat 7.5% IMT.
The Portugal Property Checklist is an architect's guide for foreign buyers: documents, planning rules, the municipal process, real costs and a fillable viewing-day checklist, updated for the 1 October 2026 planning reform.
Martina Pires Cristóvão, architect, founder of MARTINA Architecture. General information checked in September 2026, not legal, tax or financial advice. Each property must be assessed individually.
