The new zoning and building regime came into force today in Portugal: A new era in contracts when buying a house

The new Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e da Edificação (RJUE) regulations affecting construction, rehabilitation and real estate transactions in Portugal came into force as of October 1, 2026.

The reform, which was initially planned to be implemented earlier, was postponed so that municipalities could prepare their information systems and procedures for the new system. With Decreto-Lei n.º 155-B/2026 published in Diário da República, the effective date was clearly determined as October 1, 2026.

The changes concern not only contractors and municipalities, but also people buying houses in Portugal.

“Título urbanístico” information will be included in home sales contracts

One of the most visible changes for home buyers relates to the urbanistic status of the property.

Within the scope of the new system, it is clearly stated in sales transactions whether the real estate has the necessary título urbanístico certificate.

This change brings with it an important distinction: The fact that the urbanistic document of a real estate is not required to be physically presented during the transaction does not automatically mean that the real estate is completely legal or problem-free in terms of license.

It remains important for the buyer to also check the legal and urbanistic status of the property.

Why was it changed?

One of the government's main goals in the RJUE reform is to accelerate the urban planning and construction processes in municipalities.

With Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026 changes made; It includes goals such as simplifying procedures, accelerating deadlines, clarifying concepts and creating legally safer urbanistic documents.

However, in order to implement the new rules, the digital platforms used by municipalities had to be changed.

For this reason, the initially anticipated effective date was postponed and the reform was moved to October 1.

Critical point for home buyers

This is especially where the part of the new regulation that can be misinterpreted emerges.

Being able to complete a sales transaction is not the same as having the entire urbanistic situation of a building problem-free.

Especially in old buildings, there may be balconies that have been subsequently closed, converted garages, unlicensed additional areas, or discrepancies between municipal records and the existing building.

Therefore, it is important for home buyers to check the compatibility between municipal records, usage status and the current physical state of the property, rather than relying solely on the feasibility of the sale.

A new era for municipalities

The RJUE change also affects the way municipalities evaluate applications.

The new system aims to standardize application, examination, preliminary evaluation and related procedures.

One of the reasons why the government postponed the effective date in July was that municipalities had to renew their own IT systems. was that it needed additional time to adapt it according to the legislation.

This period has expired and the new regime is in effect as of October 1.

The practical effects of the change in new construction, rehabilitation and real estate transactions to be carried out in Portugal in the coming months will become more visible with the practices of municipalities.

Resources

Diário da República — Decreto-Lei n.º 155-B/2026, 31 July 2026

https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/decreto-lei/155-b-2026-1153967387

Idealista News — Novo RJUE em vigor: o que muda na construção e compra de casa, 1 October 2026

https://www.idealista.pt/news/imobiliario/habitacao/2026/10/01/77955-novo-rjue-em-vigor-o-que-muda-na-construcao-e-compra-de-casa