# Habitation Licence



## BillyTaylor (Feb 28, 2012)

Hi all, hope someone can help. We purchased a property two years ago, there was a second property on the land which contained a basic kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The second property doesn't have a habitation licence. I looked through all my paperwork and it seems from the plans, the second house was originally built as a garage and kitchen. We would like to obtain a habitation licence for this property but wondered how we stand given it has changed from the original plans and is now effectively a 'house'? Would be liable for a fine because of the changes made (I'm assuming without permisison) and does anyone now how difficult the process would be?

Thanks for any advise.


----------



## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

You don't say why or for what purpose you want it legalized could have an impact on what is required or how you go about it.

Things you should really check before making formal enquiries like is it on house Article No or separate, how is it assessed for IMI

If it's stated as a separate garage/kitchen it might not need a habitation licence, if you wanted to rent it and it formed part of your house, but if it does then be prepared for considerable expense as it it would need to comply with current building regulations not regulations at time of build or conversion. 
Plus there's no guarantee that you would get the necessary permissions if planning had only be granted for house + garage

Very much depends on the Camara you come under, they all work under 1 set of regulations but vary tremendously on how rigorously they apply them


----------



## BillyTaylor (Feb 28, 2012)

Hi Canoeman, thanks for the reply. My wife and I were thinking of perhaps modernising it and potentially letting is out (maybe provide a small income to top up the pensions).. It is a seperate article to the house, a completely seperate building (I believe it's classed as a 'rustic' article, sorry for being vague, I'm still trying to get to grips with all this).


----------



## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

To a degree it should help it being on it's own Article Number the Caderneta from Financas should help with it's classification (top of page says Urbano/Rustic/Mista also should be some information in the section Descricao do Predio & Dados de Avaliacao) also in the registration with the Conservatoria but it would sound as if it's use is a garage/kitchen, I'd consult your original lawyer to check if it can be "converted" without any extra permission, hopefully not as I'm fairly certain that under AL Licence (Holiday letting) it wouldn't require a separate Habitation Licence, when was it constructed?


----------



## BillyTaylor (Feb 28, 2012)

Thank you very much for your help, at least now I have an idea where to start! I will consult with the lawyer who dealt with the transaction (hopefully it can be converted as you suggested).


----------

