Property Registration After Purchase in Portugal: What Buyers Should Check

After the final signing, the buyer should verify that Portuguese property registration reflects the transaction correctly.

The Land Registry records the legal situation of the property, including ownership, mortgages and other registered rights and charges.

Is registration required?

Yes. Current Justiça guidance states that property registration should be made when a property is purchased or ownership changes. Casa Pronta can combine acquisition and registration.

What proves registration?

The certidão permanente predial, or permanent property certificate, is used to verify the current registration and can be consulted online.

What should you verify?

Check the buyer is correctly identified as owner, the property description and ownership share are correct, the acquisition is registered, the buyer's mortgage is registered where applicable, the seller's mortgage has been cancelled where required and no unexpected charge appears.

Costs

Current Justiça guidance lists €225 for a typical definitive online registration of acquisition or mortgage concerning an urban property and €250 at a registry office. Casa Pronta has its own process pricing, including €375 for one registration act and €700 where several acts are performed for one property.

Errors and tax record

Do not ignore a registry error because the purchase document is correct. The legal record should be corrected through the appropriate procedure.

The Land Registry and tax record are different systems, so both should be checked after purchase.

Keep the file

Retain the CPCV, final purchase document, tax payment evidence, registration evidence, mortgage documents, seller mortgage cancellation evidence, any power of attorney and relevant condominium documents.

How THE-Ö can help

We can verify the post-completion registration and resolve discrepancies.