Property Due Diligence in Portugal
How due diligence is sequenced — when documents get pulled, what gets checked when, and how problems get resolved between offer accepted and escritura signed. The buyer’s process guide.
Updated April 2026Why Due Diligence Matters in Portugal
Portuguese property has a paperwork trail that’s precise but quirky. Title is registered, taxed, and licensed across multiple separate systems — and they don’t always match. Older properties in particular often have legacy issues: outbuildings without licences, mismatches between the registered area and the actual area, mortgages that were paid off but never formally cancelled.
The CPCV doesn’t protect you from these problems. Once you sign, you’re bound. Due diligence happens before the CPCV — that’s when problems get found and either resolved or walked away from. Skipping or rushing this step is the single biggest mistake we see in the Portuguese property market.
This guide walks through how the process actually runs — the sequence, the timing, the people involved, and what happens when something doesn’t match. For the document-by-document checklist (LU, CE, CPU, CRP, FTH), see Key Property Documents.
The Legal Four — Plus Others
Lawyers sometimes call them the Big Four. Four documents are legally mandatory for every residential sale; a conditional fifth is required for some properties; and a handful of supplementary checks — not legally required — protect against the rest.
The four mandatory legal documents
No escritura completes without these four:
- Licença de Utilização (LU) — the câmara’s licence confirming residential use.
- Certificado Energético (CE) — the energy rating, valid for ten years.
- Caderneta Predial Urbana (CPU) — the tax authority’s fiscal record of the property.
- Certidão Permanente do Registo Predial (CRP) — the land registry’s record of legal ownership and charges.
Plus others — including the conditional fifth
Beyond the legal four:
- Ficha Técnica da Habitação (FTH) — the conditional fifth. Legally required only for buildings whose construction licence was issued on or after 30 March 2004; older properties are exempt.
- Supplementary checks — not legally required but each one prevents a different surprise: approved floor plans, condomínio clearance and accounts, recent IMI and utility receipts, and a building-licence-vs-physical-property comparison. Covered in detail below.
For what each document says, what to verify on each one, and the red flags to look for: read the Key Property Documents guide. This guide takes the process view — how the pack gets assembled, when the checks happen, and how problems get resolved.
Beyond the Core Pack
Other items your lawyer should verify, depending on the property type.
Condomínio status (apartments)
For apartments, ask for: most recent condomínio statement, last assembleia minutes, any approved or pending major works, monthly fee level, and the building’s reserve fund. Pending works can land on you as the new owner.
IMI tax payments
Confirm IMI is paid up to date. Outstanding IMI can transfer to the buyer if not cleared at the deed.
Outstanding utility debts
Final readings for electricity, water, gas, internet. Outstanding debts shouldn’t transfer to you, but transferring service into your name is harder if old debts aren’t cleared.
Tenants and occupants
If anyone other than the seller is in the property — tenants, family members — their status and any lease must be clear in the CPCV. Portuguese tenants have strong rights.
Building licence vs construction reality
Compare the licensed area in the licença de habitação to the current physical building. Unauthorised extensions, converted basements, or added storeys are common and can be expensive to regularise.
For rural properties: planning constraints
Rural properties in protected areas (REN, RAN, Arrábida Natural Park) have strict construction rules. What can be built or extended depends on zoning. Always verify with the câmara before assuming a project is feasible.
Mismatches are the biggest red flag
If the caderneta predial says 120m² and the registo predial says 145m² and the actual house feels like 180m², something has been built without licensing along the way. This is fixable but takes time and money. Get clarity before you sign — never after.
What to Walk Away From
Issues that should make you stop and reconsider, even if the property looks great.
No habitation licence on a modern build
If a property built after 1951 doesn’t have a valid licença de habitação, the legal status is unclear. Banks won’t lend, and the property can’t be legally sold without resolving it.
Active mortgage with the seller’s old bank
Common — the seller paid off the mortgage years ago but never formally cancelled the registration. The cancellation needs to happen before or at the escritura. Your lawyer should arrange.
Inherited property with disputed heirs
If the seller is one of multiple heirs and the others haven’t formally signed off, the sale isn’t safe. All heirs must be parties to the contract.
Pending lawsuits or court charges
The certidão will show any judicial charges or registered claims. These need clearing before the deed.
Condomínio with major pending works
If the building has agreed major repairs (facade, roof, structural) that haven’t been billed yet, you may inherit the cost. Always check the latest assembleia minutes.
Significant mismatch between licensed and actual
A small variation is normal. A whole extra storey, an unauthorised pool, or a converted attic that doubles the usable area is a regularisation project that can cost €5,000–€30,000+ and take months.
How Due Diligence Actually Runs
Practical sequencing — what your lawyer does and when.
Offer accepted, lawyer instructed
Once your offer is accepted in principle, instruct your lawyer immediately. They’ll request the seller’s lawyer pull the document pack within a few days.
Document pack reviewed
Your lawyer reviews caderneta, registo predial, licença, energy certificate, and condomínio (if applicable). Issues are flagged with options: fix before CPCV, fix between CPCV and escritura, walk away.
Physical inspection (recommended)
Optional but worth it: a structural surveyor walks the property looking for damp, structural issues, and licensing-vs-reality mismatches. Costs €300–€800 typically.
Conditions agreed for the CPCV
Anything that can’t be fixed before signing becomes a CPCV condition. Mortgage approval, tenant removal, regularisation, IMI settlement — all written into the contract.
Pre-deed verification
Final paperwork pulled the week before the escritura. Confirms nothing has changed since CPCV — no new charges, no missed IMI, no new tenancies registered.