Can we buy a home in Portugal?

Yes. Portugal has no ban on foreigners buying homes, and you don’t need residence to buy. What you pay in purchase tax depends on the price and on whether the home will be your own permanent home, and the steps differ from the UK.

Who can buy

British citizens can buy in Portugal whether or not they live there. You need a tax number (número de identificação fiscal, NIF), and in practice a Portuguese bank account to pay taxes and bills. Getting the NIF is free. If you don’t live in Portugal, gov.pt says you need a fiscal representative (representante fiscal) with an address in Portugal. The tax office’s English guidance is more precise: within 15 days of acquiring a property (or a car, a job or self-employment) in Portugal, a non-resident must appoint a representative or sign up for its electronic notifications, and non-EU citizens who are self-employed in Portugal need a representative registered for VAT. Most buyers from the UK ask their lawyer to apply for the NIF and act as representative. Buying a home no longer gives you residence: the golden visa property routes ended in October 2023 (see Which Portuguese visa do I need? and How much tax will I pay in Portugal?).

How buying works

1. Get your NIF and a Portuguese bank account
2. Hire an independent lawyer or solicitor. Lists of lawyers are on the Ordem dos Advogados website. Ask them to check the property before you pay anything
3. Check the paperwork. The property registry certificate (certidão do registo predial) shows who owns the home and any mortgages or charges. The tax record (caderneta predial) shows the tax value. Also ask for the licence to occupy (licença de utilização), the energy certificate (certificado energético), the technical sheet (ficha técnica de habitação) for newer homes and, for a flat, the condominium’s declaration of debts
4. Sign a promissory contract (contrato-promessa de compra e venda, CPCV) and pay a deposit (sinal). It isn’t compulsory, but it is common. For a building, the Civil Code requires the signatures to be recognised in person (reconhecimento presencial). The deposit is agreed between you; the law sets what happens if someone pulls out: if the buyer backs out they lose the deposit, and if the seller backs out they must pay back double. Either side can instead ask a court to force the sale
5. Pay IMT and stamp duty before completion. Proof of payment is needed on the day
6. Sign the deed. It can be a public deed (escritura) before a notary, or an authenticated private document (documento particular autenticado) prepared by a lawyer or solicitor; both have the same legal effect. Casa Pronta offices at the registry can do the deed and registration in one go
7. Register the purchase at the land registry (conservatória do registo predial), if your lawyer or Casa Pronta hasn’t already done so

Purchase tax: IMT and stamp duty

Municipal property transfer tax (imposto municipal sobre as transmissões onerosas de imóveis, IMT) is worked out on the price or the property’s tax value (valor patrimonial tributário), whichever is higher. The 2026 bands were set by the 2026 budget law (Law 73-A/2025). The rates below are for mainland Portugal; Madeira and the Azores have their own tables, so check the Portal das Finanças for Funchal.

The percentages are marginal rates, so each slice is taxed at its own rate until the flat-rate bands. Stamp duty (imposto do selo) of 0.8% is added on the same value, and a mortgage carries a further 0.6% of the loan when it runs for 5 years or more. Rural land pays 5% IMT. Buyers with a tax address in a territory on Portugal’s list of tax havens pay a flat 10% IMT. If you claim the own-home rates but don’t move in within 6 months, you lose the relief and pay the difference.

The under-35 exemption

Since 1 August 2024, buyers aged 35 or under at the date of the deed pay no IMT and no stamp duty on their first own permanent home up to €330,539 in 2026, with partial relief up to €660,982. You must not have owned a home in the 3 years before, and must not be someone else’s dependant for IRS in that year. DECO and ECO both say the relief applies whatever your nationality. The home must become your own permanent home, so in practice it suits people who are moving to Portugal, not people buying from the UK. Couples are assessed half each, so a couple where only one partner qualifies gets half the relief.

Mortgages

• Banco de Portugal’s recommendation limits loans to 90% of the price or valuation, whichever is lower, for an own permanent home, and 80% for other homes
• From 1 August 2026, total loan repayments should not take more than 45% of income (down from 50%), tested against a rise in interest rates. Banks can go above this for up to 10% of their lending each half year
• Maximum terms are 40 years if you are 35 or under, and 35 years if you are older. If you will be over 70 at the end, the bank should assume your income falls by at least 20% after that age
• These are recommendations, not law, but banks follow them and the central bank wants to make them binding
• Non-residents usually get less: ComparaJá says banks often lend up to 80%, reduced to 70% to 75% for people living outside the EEA, over shorter terms and at slightly higher rates
• Banks usually ask for life and buildings insurance. See How do I open a Portuguese bank account? and How do I build a credit history in Portugal?

Costs once you own it

On a home with a tax value of €150,000 in Lisbon, IMI would be €450 a year (about £380). The tax value is often well below the price you pay: it is on the caderneta predial. Some lower-value own homes get a temporary IMI exemption: ask the tax office or your lawyer. Other councils, such as Cascais at 0.35%, charge more. Check your council’s IMI rate on the Portal das Finanças

Letting it to tourists

Short-term letting (alojamento local, AL) needs a registration with the council. Since 1 November 2024 (Decree-Law 76/2024) there is no national freeze on new registrations, but councils can set their own rules, including containment areas where new registrations are limited or banned, and can suspend new registrations while they write those rules. A temporary decree (Decree-Law 151/2026) gives councils until 31 December 2026 to approve them. Lisbon’s regulation, in force since 6 December 2025, bans new registrations where short lets reach 10% of permanent homes and needs express approval between 5% and 10%. Other councils, including Porto and Funchal, have their own rules. Never buy assuming you can let to tourists: ask your lawyer to check the council’s rules and the building’s condominium rules first. For long lets, see How do deposits and rental contracts work?