Real Estate Comparative Guide

1 Legal framework

1.1 What legislation governs real estate in your jurisdiction?

Portuguese real estate law is a combination of administrative law and private law. The key pieces of legislation governing real estate include:

• the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic;
• the Civil Code;
• the New Urban Lease Regulation;
• the Land Registry Code;
• the Notarial Acts Code;
• the Code of Urban Development and Construction;
• the General Regulation of Urban Construction;
• the Municipal Property Tax Code and the Municipal Property Transfer Tax Code; and
• the Horizontal Property Regime Decree-Law.

1.2 What special regimes apply to different types of real estate?

Portuguese law draws a clear distinction between greenfield sites and rural properties on one hand, and urban properties on the other. The classification of a specific property as either a greenfield site or an urban property hinges on: