How off-plan works in Portugal

Buying off plan, before a building is finished or even started, is a common route into new homes in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve. But Portugal has no general law that forces developers to guarantee the buyer’s advance payments, as Spain does. The protection a buyer gets is the protection their contract creates. Your job as a broker is to make sure the contract, the licence and any guarantee are in place before the money moves.

The short version

1. Off-plan sales are signed through a CPCV (promissory contract of sale) before the final deed.
2. The CPCV must be written, with signatures certified in person, and the person certifying must confirm that a construction or use licence exists.
3. The sinal (deposit) has no legal amount. On off plan, deposits of 10% to 30% are common.
4. There is no general legal guarantee on advance payments. Negotiate a bank guarantee or insurance bond.
5. If the developer becomes insolvent before handing over the keys, the buyer is only an ordinary creditor.
6. Tie each payment to a construction stage, and the deed to the use licence.
7. From 1 July 2026, VAT on building new homes falls from 23% to 6% for qualifying homes under Decree-law 97/2026.
8. The buyer still pays IMT and stamp duty at the deed, and property gives no golden visa.

The legal framework

The CPCV is governed by the Civil Code. Literacia Financeira’s guide of October 2026 sets out the rules:

• The contract must be in writing and signed by both parties.
• The signatures must be certified in person by a notary, lawyer, solicitor or another body allowed to certify them. A clause waiving that has no effect.
• The person certifying must confirm that a use licence or construction licence exists. The 2024 Simplex reform dropped the licence check at the deed, but not for the CPCV.
• Without certification the contract is invalid, and only the buyer can rely on that, unless the buyer caused the defect.

For an off-plan sale, that means no CPCV without a construction licence. If a developer asks for money before it holds one, there is nothing for the certifier to confirm.

The sinal and default

• The law sets no amount. Any sum the buyer pays at signing is presumed to be sinal unless the contract says otherwise.
• If the buyer walks away, the sinal is lost.
• If the developer defaults, the buyer can claim double the sinal, or ask a court for specific performance (an order to complete the sale). That right cannot be waived in a property CPCV.
• No other compensation is due unless the contract states it. Literacia Financeira gives credit and valuation costs as items to write in.

No legal guarantee: negotiate one

Portugal has no general law forcing developers to guarantee off-plan payments. If the developer becomes insolvent before the keys are handed over, the buyer is only an ordinary creditor, with no special claim on the unit. The Portugal News advised in May 2026 that buyers confirm bank guarantees or insurance protect their payments if the project is not completed.

Ask for:

• A bank guarantee or insurance bond in the buyer’s name, covering the deposit and every instalment.
• Payments tied to construction stages, defined in the contract, rather than to calendar dates alone.
• A delivery date, a limited grace period, and penalties for delay. The Portugal News notes that “delays in construction are not uncommon”.
• A termination right with the return of all amounts paid, if delivery slips past a long-stop date.

Registering the promise

A normal CPCV binds the developer personally. If it sells the same unit to someone else, the buyer gets the double sinal, not the home. Literacia Financeira explains that a CPCV can be given real effect: it is signed by deed or authenticated document with an express declaration, then registered at the land registry. A later buyer then takes the property subject to the promise. It costs more, and Literacia Financeira says it is mainly worth it for long timelines, unfinished works, a seller with debts or a large sinal, which describes most off-plan deals.

Keys before the deed

Handing over the keys with the CPCV is treated as a transfer for tax, so IMT becomes due then. It also gives the buyer a right of retention: if the seller defaults, the buyer can stay in the home until repaid, a right that Literacia Financeira says ranks ahead of the seller’s bank mortgage. Do not let early access happen by accident.

The payment schedule

There is no legal schedule. The Portugal News described the usual sequence in May 2026:

1. Reservation: a small deposit takes the unit off the market.
2. CPCV: a larger deposit, often 10% to 30% of the price, with the payment schedule, completion date and delay penalties in the contract.
3. Stage payments tied to construction milestones.
4. Deed: the balance is paid once the building is finished, and ownership passes.

Worked example

These figures are illustrative only. The contract and any guarantee decide.

Apartment in Lisbon, €500,000, bought by a buyer who will live in it.

Stage	Payment	Paid to date	Guarantee should cover at least
Reservation	€10,000	€10,000	€10,000
CPCV (to 20%)	€90,000	€100,000	€100,000
Structure complete (to 30%)	€50,000	€150,000	€150,000
Deed	€350,000	€500,000	Guarantee ends

At the deed the buyer also pays stamp duty of 0.8% (€4,000) and IMT, which at this price falls in the 8% marginal band for a permanent own home in 2026 (PwC). If the buyer is a non-resident, IMT is a flat 7.5% (€37,500) since 25 May 2026, unless an exception applies. If the buyer pays €150,000 before the deed with no guarantee and the developer fails, that money becomes an ordinary claim in the insolvency.

Use licence, technical file and snagging

• Licença de utilização. The council’s use licence confirms the building matches its approved project and can be lived in. Since Decree-law 10/2024, new works are covered by a notice with the technical director’s statement, and the council issues a proof document. It is no longer required at the deed, but make delivery and the deed conditional on it. From 1 October 2026 the deed must state whether the property has an urban planning title (Literacia Financeira).
• Ficha técnica da habitação. The developer must prepare this technical file, describing materials, areas and installations, for homes licensed after 30 March 2004, and deposit a copy with the council. It is no longer required at the deed, but the duty remains and some banks still ask for it. Ask for it at delivery.
• Energy certificate. A new building needs one, and it rates the home from A+ to F (ComparaJá).
• Snagging. The Portugal News warns that the finished home may differ from the plans. Walk the home before the deed with the plans and specification, and get a signed list of defects with a repair deadline.

Taxes on new homes in 2026

Decree-law 97/2026, the 2026 housing tax package, cuts VAT on building new homes from 23% to 6% from 1 July 2026, or optionally from 1 January 2026, when they are sold as a permanent own home for up to about €660,982 or let at moderate rents. A buyer who does not use such a home as a permanent residence pays an extra 10% IMT. Ask the developer in writing whether the project uses the reduced rate, and tell the buyer what it means for their use of the home.

On every purchase the buyer pays:

• IMT at the deed, on the 2026 brackets or the flat 7.5% for non-residents.
• Stamp duty of 0.8%, plus 0.6% of any mortgage of five years or more.
• Deed and registration, for example €375 cash or €700 with financing at Casa Pronta (Literacia Financeira, September 2026).

On new builds the developer usually pays the agency fee, typically 3% to 5%, and the buyer pays no mediation fee (BoaVenda, September 2026).

Lisbon and the Algarve

• Lisbon had Portugal’s highest median sale price in Q1 2026, €5,292 per sqm (INE). Parque das Nações is popular with international families, and the eastern riverside of Marvila and Beato is turning former industrial sites into new housing.
• The Algarve took 29.7% of non-resident purchases and 42.4% of their value in 2025 (INE, reported by idealista). In the Golden Triangle, Engel & Völkers puts foreign buyers at about 80% of purchases (reported by Postal, July 2026).
• Holiday lets: since Decree-law 76/2024, municipalities control new Alojamento Local registrations and can oppose them within 60 days, or 90 in containment areas. Lisbon’s central parishes and Porto’s historic centre are in containment. Check before you sell a unit on rental yield.
• Currency risk: The Portugal News notes that buyers whose money is not in euros carry exchange rate risk across the build period.
• No visa: property stopped qualifying for the golden visa on 7 October 2023.

What to check on the developer and the project

• The construction licence: number, date and the plot it covers.
• The land registry certificate for the plot and any mortgages on it.
• The developer’s company records and track record of finished, on-time projects.
• A bank guarantee or insurance bond in the buyer’s name for every payment.
• The specification and plans attached to the CPCV.
• The delivery, grace period, penalty and termination clauses.
• Whether the project uses the 6% VAT rate, and the conditions that come with it.

Red flags

• Money requested before a construction licence exists.
• A CPCV signed without certified signatures.
• No guarantee, or a promise that one will come “later”.
• Payments to an account that is not the developer’s, or to an intermediary.
• Open-ended extensions of the delivery date.
• A deed offered without the use licence or proof of the urban planning title.
• Marketing that promises a golden visa or guaranteed rental returns.

Off-plan sales in Portugal rely on the contract more than on a dedicated law, and the 2026 tax package changed VAT and IMT on new homes. This guide was checked on the date shown above. It is general information, not legal or tax advice. CloserPass is not affiliated with IMPIC, any developer, bank or Portuguese authority.

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