Portugal is changing its planning and construction rules again.
Decree-Law 108/2026 amends the Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e da Edificação (RJUE), following the 2024 Simplex Urbanístico reforms.
The revised RJUE provisions discussed in this article take effect on 1 October 2026.
At the time of writing, these rules are not yet in force. This article looks at what is changing and what those changes may mean in practice for buyers and owners.
Much of the discussion has focused on simplification: clearer procedures, greater use of comunicação prévia, deadlines for municipal decisions and a more formal título urbanístico.
We wanted to go further than simply summarising the legislation.
Our aim was to understand what has genuinely improved, what remains complicated and how the revised rules may work in the situations property buyers and owners actually encounter.
The reforms may make parts of the administrative process faster.
They do not necessarily make it easier for an ordinary owner to know what they are allowed to do.
That distinction matters before you buy or start work, not afterwards.
The 2026 changes at a glance
| Change | What it means in practice | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Municipal decision deadlines | From 1 October, certain licensing procedures will have clearer statutory decision periods, with tacit approval possible where the legal conditions are met. | Do not simply count days from when you first submit an application. The legal starting point and procedural stages matter. |
| More use of Comunicação Prévia | In qualifying cases, the revised rules will allow works to proceed without waiting for a further permissive municipal decision once the required conditions have been met. | No prior approval does not mean no planning obligations. |
| Clearer definition of reconstruction | Reconstruction will be tied more closely to the building’s last valid legal antecedent and the reconstitution of its recognised façades and roof. | A ruin standing on the land does not automatically tell you what can legally be rebuilt. |
| Alterations remain different from simple refurbishment | Internal works may remain exempt in certain circumstances. Exterior changes, increases in area or volume and changes of use may move a project into another planning category. Structural work has additional technical-documentation requirements even where the works remain exempt. | Calling something a “renovation” does not establish its planning status. |
| Use remains crucial | How much can be built and what the building can legally be used for are separate questions. | Always ask: permitted for what use? |
| A stronger Título Urbanístico | The revised law will formalise more clearly what constitutes the title of an urban operation and introduce disclosure requirements for certain property transfers. | A title is useful evidence, but it is not proof that every later alteration to the property is compliant. |
Let's test the rules against real-life examples
Planning legislation is technical. Property decisions usually start with much simpler questions:
Can I make the windows bigger?, Can I rebuild this ruin?, Can I enclose the terrace?
This is where the revised rules become easier to understand.
Example 1: “I'm only renovating the house”
The situation
You buy a house that needs complete refurbishment.
You plan to replace the kitchen and bathrooms, install new plumbing and electrics, change the floors and modernise the interior.
What changes legally?
Many internal alterations can remain exempt from licence and comunicação prévia where they do not change the building’s exterior physical or aesthetic characteristics. Structural intervention does not automatically remove that exemption, but the revised rules require specific technical documentation and responsibility statements where the structure is affected.
Then you decide the living room is too dark.
Two small windows become large glazed openings onto the garden.
You still think you are renovating.
Planning law may see something different.
Changing the dimensions of exterior openings changes the façade. Doors and windows are specifically relevant when assessing alterations to a building's physical or aesthetic characteristics.
The same issue can arise with changes to roofs, façades, structural elements or other exterior features.
Why it matters
“Renovation” is an everyday description.
It is not, by itself, a planning category.
What to check
If you are only refurbishing the legally existing interior, the position may be relatively straightforward.
Once you change the exterior, area, volume or use, stop assuming the whole project remains exempt simply because you call it a renovation.
If structural work is involved, establish what technical documentation and responsibility statements are required before work begins.
Example 2: “I want to enclose the terrace and make the living room bigger”
The situation
Your house has a covered external terrace.
You decide to add glazing and walls and incorporate it permanently into the living room.
It feels like a small alteration. You are not building another floor or creating a new house.
What changes legally?
You may now be changing several things at once:
- the façade
- the enclosed floor area
- potentially the building's volume
- the configuration shown in the existing plans
Depending on the property and works, this can move beyond straightforward internal renovation and into an alteration or extension that requires a different planning procedure.
Why it matters
Small projects can have significant planning consequences.
An extra 15 or 20 m² may feel insignificant compared with the whole house, but planning law is concerned with what has changed, not simply whether the owner considers the project major or minor.
What to check
Before enclosing a terrace, veranda or similar external space, establish whether the change affects the property's authorised area, volume, façade or use and which procedure applies.
This is also something buyers should check carefully when purchasing an already renovated property.
Example 3: “I'm rebuilding a ruin”
The situation
You find an attractive rural property with an old stone ruin.
The selling agent tells you:
“You can rebuild the ruin.”
What changes legally?
Under the revised RJUE, qualifying reconstruction works will remain exempt from licence and comunicação prévia, subject to the specific exceptions and other legislation that may apply to the property.
But the important word is qualifying.
The revised definition of reconstruction is tied to the property’s last valid legal antecedent, broadly, the last valid and effective urban operation or an operation that did not require a title when it was carried out. Reconstruction must also reconstitute the formal composition of the façades and roof within the limits set by the law.
So the important question is not:
“Is there a ruin?”
It is:
“What building is legally recognised here?”
Imagine the recognised building is 80 m².
Reconstructing in line with that last valid legal antecedent is one proposition.
Recreating substantially that building is one proposition.
Turning the same ruin into a 220 m² contemporary villa with new wings, substantially greater volume and extensive glazing is another.
An increase in footprint, total construction area, façade height, overall height or volume falls within the legal definition of amplification rather than reconstruction.
Why it matters
A physical ruin can have value.
But its value as a development opportunity depends on what can legally be done with it.
What to check
Before paying for “rebuilding potential”, establish:
- what building is legally recognised
- its recognised area and use
- whether your proposed design qualifies as reconstruction
- whether an extension is possible
- which planning procedure applies
- whether additional restrictions affect the land
A pile of stone and a statement that “you can rebuild it” are not enough to establish development potential.
Example 4: “The Câmara told me I can build 500 m²”
The situation
You are considering a rural property.
Someone tells you:
“The Câmara says you can build 500 m².”
That 500 m² quickly becomes part of how you value the property.
What changes legally?
First establish what the statement actually means.
There is a significant difference between:
- a development parameter contained in the PDM
- an informal conversation at the Câmara
- written municipal information
- a formal PIP
- an approved architectural project
- a licence
- an effective comunicação prévia
They do not provide the same level of certainty.
Why it matters
“The planning rules may allow up to 500 m²”
is not the same as:
“Your proposed 500 m² house has been approved.”
The first describes potential.
The second relates to a specific project.
What to check
Whenever somebody gives you a buildable-area figure, ask:
Where does that number come from?
For what use?
Has it been confirmed formally?
Does it apply to the project I actually want to build?
Example 5: “I can build more if I do rural tourism”
The situation
A rural property is marketed on the basis that considerably more may be built if the project includes Turismo no Espaço Rural, rural tourism.
Imagine, purely for illustration:
Residential development: 400 m²
Potential additional tourism development: 250 m²
It is easy to hear:
“This property has 650 m² of building potential.”
What changes legally?
That may be the wrong way to understand it.
The more important question is:
“What can those additional 250 m² legally be used for?”
Turismo no Espaço Rural is a regulated tourism activity. It is not simply a planning label that allows an owner to construct a larger private home.
Development rights are also not uniform across Portugal. They depend on the municipality, PDM, land classification and other restrictions applying to the individual property.
There is no general national rule that rural tourism gives every property an additional amount of construction.
Why it matters
Suppose you obtain additional development because those buildings form part of an approved tourism operation.
Then, several years later, you decide you do not want to run the business.
You should not assume that accommodation authorised as part of a tourism use can automatically become additional private residential accommodation. Any later change of use must itself be legally permissible.
A different use must itself be legally permissible.
What to check
Before attributing value to tourism development potential, ask:
What exactly can be built?
Which part depends on the tourism use?
What obligations come with that use?
What happens if the tourism activity never starts or later stops?
Our buyer-side rule
Do not pay for theoretical development potential that depends on a business you have no intention of operating.
Establish what can legally be created for the use you actually want.
For more on rural land and land classification, see our Land & Ownership Guide.
Example 6: “The Câmara hasn't replied. Can I start building?”
The situation
From 1 October, imagine you submit a project requiring licensing under the revised RJUE.
You have heard that the new law gives the Câmara 20 days to respond.
Twenty days pass.
Can you start?
What changes legally?
For specified building and demolition licensing applications, the revised RJUE gives the Câmara a maximum of 20 days for the final licensing decision, with tacit approval where the legal conditions are met.
But that does not mean the entire planning process lasts 20 days.
So this should not be translated into:
“Twenty days have passed, therefore my project is approved.”
For the relevant building projects, the architectural project has a separate maximum decision period of 30 days. If there is no express decision within that period, the architectural project can be tacitly approved where the statutory conditions are met.
The final 20-day licensing period starts at the procedural point defined by the RJUE, which depends on how the application has been submitted and when the required speciality projects or other elements are received.
Why it matters
Tacit approval can be an important improvement where municipal delays have historically held projects up.
But relying on it incorrectly could be a very expensive mistake.
What to check
If your project depends on tacit approval, have the procedural position checked before acting on it.
Do not rely on a calendar and an unanswered email.
And what about Comunicação Prévia?
This is worth separating from tacit approval.
Under the revised regime, a correctly submitted comunicação prévia can allow qualifying works to proceed without waiting for a further permissive municipal decision.
The communication must be correctly submitted with the required documentation, and the applicable fees, charges and start-of-works requirements must be dealt with before works begin.
That can make the process considerably faster.
But it also illustrates the important difference between less prior municipal control and no planning control.
The municipality retains powers of subsequent control and enforcement. A non-compliant project does not become compliant simply because no express approval was required before work began.
The applicable planning rules still have to be followed.
How is an ordinary homeowner supposed to know?
This is one of the problems with presenting the reforms simply as “planning has become easier”.
Most homeowners will not read the RJUE, their local PDM, heritage rules and every relevant regulation before deciding whether they can enlarge a window or enclose a terrace.
Nor should we reasonably expect them to.
The useful thing to know is when to stop assuming.
Get the planning position checked if you are:
- changing a façade or external opening
- altering the structure
- increasing building area or volume
- extending a property
- materially changing a ruin
- changing how part of the property is used
- developing rural or protected land
- dealing with heritage restrictions
- relying on additional building rights connected to tourism or another specific use
This does not mean every one of these situations requires a traditional licence.
It means you should not decide for yourself that it does not.
Buying somebody else's renovation? Look beyond the finish
The same questions matter when buying an already renovated property.
Imagine you visit a beautifully finished villa.
The garage is now a fourth bedroom.
Two small windows have become floor-to-ceiling sliding doors.
The covered terrace is now part of the living room.
There is a swimming pool and a substantial building at the bottom of the garden.
The listing says:
“Completely renovated.”
From a planning perspective, that description tells you very little.
A buyer should ask:
What legally existed before the renovation?
What was changed?
Which changes required a planning procedure?
What documentation exists?
Does the property in front of me correspond with that documentation?
From 1 October, this is where the revised título urbanístico framework becomes particularly relevant.
Título Urbanístico: useful, but not a guarantee
From 1 October 2026, the revised RJUE formalises more clearly what constitutes the title of an urban operation. Depending on the procedure, the title can include the relevant payment receipt, the submitted form and evidence of express or tacit approval or submission.
The law also introduces a specific disclosure requirement for transactions involving urban building land, buildings already built or under construction and autonomous units.
The professional completing the transaction must record whether:
- the relevant urban title has been produced;
- the seller declares that it exists but has not produced it; or
- the seller declares that no corresponding title exists.
If the required reference is omitted, the law provides that the transaction may be voidable.
That should improve transparency.
But claims that this means “no hidden surprises” go too far.
Imagine a house that was legally built according to its original project.
Years later, an owner enclosed a terrace, added an annex and changed several windows.
The original planning title does not, by itself, prove those later alterations are compliant.
The useful question is still:
Does the property that exists today correspond with its legal and technical documentation?
A document is only useful if you understand what it proves.
Before you buy or renovate: eight questions worth asking
1. What legally exists today?
For older properties and ruins, establish the valid legal antecedent rather than relying only on what physically stands there.
2. What exactly are you changing?
Internal finishes are one thing. Structure, exterior openings, area, volume and use may be another.
3. What is the land classification?
The PDM and other planning instruments can materially affect what is possible.
4. Are there additional restrictions?
Heritage, agricultural, ecological and other restrictions may change the analysis.
5. Are development rights tied to a particular use?
If additional area depends on tourism or another activity, establish what happens if that use stops.
6. What has the Câmara actually confirmed?
An informal comment, planning parameter, PIP and approved project do not mean the same thing.
7. Is someone relying on tacit approval?
Confirm that the statutory requirements have actually been met rather than simply counting days.
8. Does the physical property match the documents?
Particularly with renovated properties, compare what exists with the relevant plans, titles and technical documentation.
A short glossary
Câmara Municipal
The local municipal authority responsible for many planning, construction, use and enforcement procedures.
PDM, Plano Diretor Municipal
The municipality's main planning framework. It helps determine permitted land uses, development parameters and restrictions.
RJUE
The national legal framework governing many urbanisation and building procedures in Portugal.
Comunicação Prévia
Under the revised regime taking effect on 1 October 2026, a planning procedure that can, in qualifying cases, allow an owner to proceed without waiting for a further permissive municipal decision once the required documentation, payment and start-of-works requirements have been met.
PIP, Pedido de Informação Prévia
A formal procedure used to ask the municipality about the feasibility and applicable conditions of a proposed development before progressing further.
Título Urbanístico
The legal title for the relevant urban operation. Under the revised RJUE, what constitutes that title depends on the procedure and can include the relevant payment receipt, submitted form and evidence of approval or submission.
For a fuller explanation of rural land and land classifications, see our Land & Ownership Guide.
So, has Portugal made planning simpler?
From 1 October 2026, in some respects, it should.
Clearer deadlines, fewer unnecessary procedural steps and the ability to progress qualifying projects without waiting indefinitely for a municipal decision can be genuine improvements.
But the word simplification needs context.
It does not mean:
“You don't need permission anymore.”
Depending on the property and the works, the revised RJUE may involve exempt works, comunicação prévia, comunicação prévia com prazo, licensing or tacit approval.
They are different legal routes with different conditions.
For buyers and owners, four questions cut through much of the complexity:
What legally exists?
What do you want to change?
What will it be used for?
What evidence confirms that you can do it?
Those questions are considerably more useful than simply being told that planning in Portugal has become “simpler”.
Sources/Legal references:
- Diário da República, Decreto-Lei 108/2026
- Diário da República, Decreto-Lei 155-B/2026, postponing the entry into force of Decree-Law 108/2026 to 1 October 2026
- Portaria 320/2026/1, approving the standard application and communication forms and documentary requirements for the revised RJUE
- Consolidated RJUE in Diário da República
- Turismo de Portugal or gov.pt guidance on tourism enterprises on rural land
Disclaimer
This article is provided for general information only. It is not legal, architectural, planning or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for advice on a specific property or project.
The revised RJUE provisions discussed in this article are due to take effect on 1 October 2026. Their application to a particular project will depend on the law, regulations and planning position applicable to that property at the relevant time.
Portuguese planning rules can vary according to the property, municipality, land classification, existing legal status, proposed works and intended use. Before purchasing, renovating, rebuilding, extending or changing the use of a property, you should obtain advice from an appropriately qualified Portuguese lawyer, architect and, where relevant, other technical professionals.