# Single family dwelling on rustic land



## mikekasky (10 mo ago)

Hi there, I searched the forum but didn't get a conclusive answer. BTW, it's even harder to get a useful answer from an agency or seller. "Please call me" is the answer. Many PDMs say you can build on forest land to support forestry activities:

"Only in situations that are compatible and provided for in a forest management plan approved by the national forestry authority are buildings permitted in the following situations ... For housing purposes to support forestry activities, with a single family dwelling with a height equal to or less than two floors and served by a public road, a minimum plot area of 10,000 m2, a gross floor area not exceeding 250 m2 ..."

Is there a definition of "forestry activities"? Like taking care of trees and a forest permaculture garden? 

Then there is this warning:


canoeman said:


> Change of use for Rustica is unlikely to be given, if you have a tarmaced road running along a boundary/ies then generally( not always) permission to built can be got for the area paralleling road to a depth of 50 mtrs measured from centre of road. If there is an area then you can only build to a footprint of a percentage of area which also includes septic tanks so again a build is not always viable or possible.


In my experience, agencies don't even answer when asked if rustic land is for dwelling because it's over 10,000 m2. Private sellers easily confirm everything but only on the phone. Am I right to conclude that unless land is marked urban or has an article classified for habitation (e.g. ruin), it's impossible to build a dwelling? Anyone who says you can build simply because the land is over 10,000 m2 is wrong?


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## Strontium (Sep 16, 2015)

If you want legal advice, ie "am I allowed to build on Rustic land?", to ask/pay a lawyer as asking for legal advice on random interweb forum seems to be some sort of joke. Canoeman;s advice may or may not have been relevant when it was written but he is unlikely to update it as he is no longer alive. Generally you'd need a habitation license for a dwelling to live in it and this has an article listing (on the land registry) as such where Rustic listing is not Habitation. Agricultural building on rustic land is just that as is the water and electric connections classed "for agricultural" use. You cannot have a postal address on Rustic so you cannot have your tax code registered there. Different councils, agents, others, will all offer an opinion and they vary so you are unlikely to get one consistent answer. Agents are not (usually) paid by you so do not want to engage in these ethereal discussions as all it does is wastes their time. They have had endless non-Portuguese enquirers over the years asking similar questions with no offers to compensate them for their time and effort in answering. Lets not mention the forest fires and loss of life.


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## nb888 (Jan 15, 2021)

Here are a couple of links which may be of some use:









Ein Grundstück in Portugal kaufen


Seit wir die Quinta Prazera haben, kommen sie, die Fragen. Von Menschen, die es uns gerne gleichtun möchten. Wie finde ich ein passendes ...




www-crosli-de.translate.goog













License to live - The most common confusion - Home Key Portugal - Properties for sale in Portugal


Does this house have a habitation license? This is by far the most asked property question. As many people get confused about the building registrations in Portugal, I decided to shed some light on it for you. First of all, you need to know that there are two different types of building...




homekeyportugal.com





As to your question, you would need paid legal advice from a Portuguese lawyer specialising in such matters that is also local to the property you re thinking of purchasing, as things are different from camara to camara and property to property. But the generic response to the question "can I build on rustic or forestry land" would be "probably not legally but in doing so, whether you upset anyone to make them care enough to do anything about it is another matter"


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## mikekasky (10 mo ago)

Thank you for your response and sorry to hear canoeman is not here anymore.

I conclude it is impossible to get a new habitation license for a dwelling on rustic, forest or agricultural land UNLESS it already exists or did exist (ruin). But a habitation license is only needed to be registered on that address. If that is not a priority, almost everything is possible, if no one gets disturbed. I don't see any value in a lawyer unless there is some dispute. In that case I wouldn't buy the land. I can read and the Camara can read and we both should be able to understand what the regulation is.


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## Strontium (Sep 16, 2015)

You do NOT seem to understand any of what has been written on here but good luck with " I can read and the Camara can read and we both should be able to understand what the regulation is" in a country where there are an many interpretations of these regulations as there are people you ask and even they'll probably change their minds by the next time you ask.


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