# Habitation Licence?



## dstump (Apr 26, 2010)

We are planning to retire to Portugal late 2014, we expect to rent long term whilst we look to find somewhere to buy in the Caldas da Rainha/
Alcobaca area.

We have no set idea on what we would like to buy, apart from not a complete ruin, and feel from just looking at the internet so far we will probably have a huge choice. My question is we have seen some partially completed new builds, can we buy and complete the work ourselves, rather than paying the builder, as my understanding is that the habitation licence is issued to the builder? Or am I mistaken in this? We are not talking about plumbing/electricals, but maybe tiling, putting in kitchens and bathrooms. 

Thank you for your time and advice. 

Denise


----------



## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Habitation Licence is issued for the property once all work & checks are done the builder has to supply various documents as part of process, part completed are normally sold so you as buyer can specify the finishes, tiles, quality etc etc, I'd be very wary of buying a part complete without without a builder involved unless you truly understand the system and the true position of the property at time of purchase i.e. exactly what stage build is at at and does it have all the required paperwork to complete.

When you say complete yourself certain things you can do, so you could tile, paint, joinery etc providing those items aren't going to affect the signing off of other things like, plumbing, electrics, TV, Telephone, gas etc but there are other things you can't do as they must be done by a registered or certified tradesman.

Basically a house needs to be at a completed stage, apart from tiling, paint, kitchen, possibly bathrooms to get Licence granted, you need internal doors as an example otherwise it's likely to fail acoustic test


----------



## dstump (Apr 26, 2010)

*Habitation Licence*

OK, thanks for that, so it should be possible to work with the builder so that we agree an amount to bring a build up to the standard so that a Habitation Licence can be issued, but leaving us what we want to do ourselves? I am assuming that due to the economic situation builders don't want to invest any more money/effort in properties that may not find a buyer.

Its just one avenue that we were considering, we are looking at properties at the lower end of our budget, which have potential but will require gutting by a builder and reconfiguring/renovating (I did take on board your comments re. issues with windows), and others towards the top end of budget, which we could move straight into, BUT, though they are beautifully finished, just not to our taste, and my naturally tight nature would find it very difficult to rip out an expensive brand new kitchen. Equally, it wouldn't feel like our home with a wonderful, high tech shiny black kitchen. Seems to be a world-wide trend at present for black tiling in kitchens and bathrooms, with white tiles. 

Completely different subject, are there reclamation yards in Portugal? 

Thank you for all the help and constructive advice you have offered so far, it certainly makes it much easier to get an authorative answer to any random questions we may have! 

Denise


----------



## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Reclamation yards Very few and far between and ones there are seem to have very inflated ideas as to value


----------



## dstump (Apr 26, 2010)

Thank you, will not waste time mulling that over then! 

Denise


----------

