# Retirement Planning - non-permanent residences



## Les Hodgson (Mar 2, 2009)

This is a great Forum!

We're hoping to retire early in about 5 years.

We don't have much in the way of pension provision but we will have a mortgage free ex-council house which we will sell to provide funds to allow our retirement.

We've holidayed in Portugal in the past so we are thinking about Central Portugal and our idea at the moment is that we would look for a nice plot of land and site a static caravan to live in.
We want to avoid all the planning permission hassle and don't really want to be renovating or restoring and that is one reason why a static caravan seems like a good option for us. Neither of us would want to live on a residential site either and the idea of our own place is a dream that appeals to us both. (A yurt is out of the question as we both want a little bit of comfort  )

Does anyone know just what might be classed as non-permanent when it comes to a residence? If a static caravan was parked on your own land would it become "permanent" if a septic tank was installed?

I would be interested to know if anyone has done anything similar and has any advice to offer.

Les Hodgson


----------



## silvers (Sep 22, 2008)

Hi Les and welcome to the forum,
Portugal is a country covered with red tape, the portuguese love their bits of paper. The rules and regulations differ wildly between different camaras. In general though, there are plots of land that will never allow habitation of any kind, and there are types that will but will need permission. I can't think of anywhere where you could just roll up and plonk a mobile home down without attracting the interest of the camara.
You should try contacting an architect for more detailed advice though.


----------



## omostra06 (Sep 11, 2007)

Hi Les, welcome to the forum,

living in a caravan on a plot of land could be difficult, if the land has no electricity or water, it will be very hard to get it connected without some sort of planning application or a habitation license, i have seen caravans being lived in by people fulltime, but they have bought old ruined houses that have electricity still connected and a water supply and they just live in the van and never rebuild the house
if you are looking at buying a rural plot with no house then it will be hard to legally stay in your caravan, plenty of people do do it and i think the council ignore some as they are living in the van while rebuilding a house.

if you plan to build a septic tank then you ´should´ get planning for it, you could use solar power and a well or bore hole for your water, to avoid those problems, its worth looking into it in more detail before spending any money on a plot that you may not be able to use as you would like. 

as silvers has mentioned maybe talk with an architect or to the council,before buying anything.

perhaps you think that buying a plot and a caravan is your only option, but there are properties available in rural areas of Portugal, that are pretty cheap, take a look at a few websites to give you an idea, the casa sapo website is a good site for getting an idea what is available in different areas. you might even find something that doesnt need work.


----------



## Les Hodgson (Mar 2, 2009)

Thanks for a couple of very useful responses.

In view of what has been said I wonder if it might actually be possible to make some kind of Planning Application to site a static/residential caravan (or a log cabin or chalet) on a suitable piece of land in the proper way.

I must admit that the idea of buying a plot with a ruin and never actually rebuilding had occurred to me but I'm not really looking to subvert the rules

I expect the rules really do vary from area to area and I do realise that we will need to do some very thorough checking of the various possibilities that might be available to us. At least I have plenty of time to do this (and a very sensible wife to make sure I don't do anything stupid) and I'm sure I will find this forum very useful while I'm doing that!

Les Hodgson


----------



## silvers (Sep 22, 2008)

Where in central Portugal are you looking at? Omostra is in Tomar which is very picturesque whilst i am near to Nazare, which is coastal and better, only kidding.







Or am I?


----------



## Les Hodgson (Mar 2, 2009)

We have a very open mind on this as we've only visited Portugal on holiday and we know that can give a false impression - we also know there is a lot to learn about the country before deciding where we would like to be. A coastal location would be very nice but may be beyond our means when the time comes 

We are both keen on spending our retirement "outdoors" as much as possible. We enjoy gentle cycling and canoeing and I fly a microlight aeroplane here in the UK. If we don't sell our house here to raise money we just won't be able to afford an enjoyable retirement. This will limit our purchasing ability as we will need to retain sufficient capital to provide money to live on if we retire early.

We have this dream of being able to afford a small plot of land where we can live quietly, learn the language, meet the locals and enjoy a much better climate that we would over here in the UK. 

I was brought up for a few years on the island of Eigg and then in a remote area of Argyllshire so I look forward to returning to the quiet life!

I'm looking forward to following things on this forum because issues are raised and ideas put forward which we might not have considered otherwise.

Les


----------



## omostra06 (Sep 11, 2007)

silvers said:


> Where in central Portugal are you looking at? Omostra is in Tomar which is very picturesque whilst i am near to Nazare, which is coastal and better, only kidding.
> 
> Or am I?





there are lots of nice places in portugal, thats what makes it an interesting place to live.


----------



## silvers (Sep 22, 2008)

In all seriousness, Tomar probably represents more of what you are looking for. It is truly gorgeous with lakes and mountains. The prices are cheaper and there is plenty of choice.
Whatever you choose, If I can help I will.
James


----------

