How home renovations and construction works ?

@FLFamily

Hello and welcome on board !

Please note that I have created a new thread from your post on the Portugal forum so that you may better interact with members.

Where in Portugal are you looking forward to move ?

Regards

Bhavna

There's a notable deficit of "mão de obra" in Portugal, as many have found more lucrative opportunities to work elsewhere in Europe.  That makes it hard to get anything done.  I have tried myself to get work done on my property, getting nowhere so far.

You can get better results than I, if you have the language and social skills to beat the bushes for someone who has the capacity (my Portuguese is fair, but not so good that I can get into a full speed conversation with just anyone on a mediocre phone connection.)  I suppose most contractor etc. business is by of word-of-mouth, there isn't any looking them up on the internet here.

Anyway, I'd be in a pickle if I'd arrived here with an immediate need to build something.  That would be dire.  Also have read tales of woe from people who arrange to get something built while they're away - no one there to see if anything's getting done = nothing's getting done.

    Hi everyone,My husband and I are American citizens, mid 40s and plan on buying either a property to restore or a piece of land to build.We currently live in the US and plan on going for an exploratory trip to see where we feel it could be ”home” for us.I speak Portuguese, so language barrier would not be an issue. I want to have a good understanding of how home renovations and construction works, as I know it is different than the US.Thank you!        -@FLFamily

Hi and Welcome,

Anything is possible.  Basically (there are many variations)  a building to live in must either have an habitation licence or an exemption (of habitation license) due to age.  It'll be listed under it's article number on the "land registry" with floor areas etc, any living space not listed/not included in the habitation licence "land registry" listing is illegal.  Garden etc will be separate article and have it's  own listing and be classed as "Rustic" so cannot be built on.

  New build needs to have been approved for both the land class and the building plans. It has to be to the latest build regulations, all builders and sub contractors must be registered and get their work checked and added to the build "listing".

Older, exempt, habitations generally need to have a similar frontage to the " original" and fit in to the footprint of the "listing" but there is leeway about the internal layout and materials. The "land registry" listing can be checked by private persons for a fee but a lot of lawyers/agencies have accounts.

  25% of the population is in Lisbon and 20% in Porto, the Algave has areas of "tourist" concentrations but  the larger part of Portugal if not densely populated.  Finding contractors/builders etc can be a challenge, many do not work outside their local area, it is a waste of their time to drive 2 hours each way, each day to a project particularly as they tend to work with the same "team" of local sub contractors.  The use of interweb to manage renovation is uncommon as is doing any work without having met the client personally. Work will generally stall if the client or their rep is not physically present some of the time, a question like " these tiles seem a different shade to the ones already laid should we carry on with them?"  need client/rep to personally see the tiles and make a decision.  The more remote the place the less chance of finding any type of builder to work there and less chance of builders merchants and deliveries.

  Property listings on interweb sites may be inaccurate, some places have not had their details updated unless a sale as it costs money, some places are no longer for sale as multiple agents have listed them and one has sold/removed it.  Agents will often not respond to overseas contacts/questions as they do not get paid to do so but would still need to pay their staff to respond. They will respond if you visit their offices as then they take your seriously.  There is no general listing of "sold" prices of various types of properties in various areas. There can be further anomolies as it is possible to tie a debt to a property so the new owner becomes responsible for the debt.  The inheritance system here works by a property being divided amonst the offspring (plus their offspring if predeceased) so multiple equal owners to make each decision, or to not make a decision.

   This is Portugal so things are done in a Portuguese way and if you are unwilling to accept that then you'll probably find it difficult. On the plus side I lost my door key as I'd didn't lock it for 3 months and couldnt remember where it was last so then went away for two months no one touched anything, a lot of people leave their parked car windows open on hot days.

Here are links to two listings sites so you have some idea what WHAT MAYBE potentially available.

https://www.idealista.pt/en/

https://www.olx.pt/

Good Luck

PS.

There is also a "Promissory Contract" as part of the buying/selling process in Portugal.