# Buying and living off grid in Portugal



## miss jones

Hey!
Can anyone shed any light on buying and living off grid in Portugal, 
I have seen that you need a licence if a ruin if post 1951, 
How would you go about building a cob house? would you need planning permission and what are the chances of gaining this,
do most people buy land, build an electric source and hope for the best when living in a caravan?
we would be looking to keep livestock also, having seen some properties online some say it is possible to build or to use a caravan,

Also the tax'es (deoending on value of property) is it only around 100 euros on a land and ruin worth around 30,000 euros?

Thanks


----------



## canoeman

Property built post 1951 reguires a Habitation Licence, pre 1951 require a Certificate from Camara stating built pre 1951. Just because property has a ruin don't think that you can automatically rebuild, a rebuild would require complying with current building regulations and full planning permission, it is far better to look for property that has pre or post 1951 paperwork but *requires renovating*.

"How would you go about building a cob house? would you need planning permission and what are the chances of gaining this,"

Not very well, there are a couple of Camaras allowing alternative construction but restrictive in who and how, and you certainly wouldn't be able achieve "off grid" all new construction has to adhere to current building codes and planning permission, afraid your chanced of getting permission for a cob house very slight.

You'll see plenty of adverts for land, ruins that say you can build, live in a caravan, yurt etc as long as you bear in mind in many cases it wouldn't be legally possible to live on then it's a personal decision to ignore, when looking at these adverts your most important consideration is water, is it available, if so is it suitable and is it there all year.

"do most people buy land, build an electric source and hope for the best when living in a caravan?"
Lots of people do, because of "crisis" lots of things are changing in Portugal, so things that in the past where known about but ignored aren't anymore so comes down to personal choice and being prepared to take the risk, problem is if you do get caught your investments down the drain personally think it's better to keep on the legal side, you can still live off grid to a greater extent but without looking over your shoulder all the time

By taxes presume you mean the equivalent of UK Rates its impossible to say yes or no to a 100€ it depends on a number of factors and its not based on the price you pay but the land designation and taxable value, but like my warning above if it's rated as Rustica (farmland) then it shouldn't be lived on


----------



## Domicilium

Placing a caravan on a plot is possible but some cameras will do anything to prevent you from doing it, so consider doing it only as your only option


----------



## forgeman

We have met a lot of folks (on our two year journey to buying our own place) who have purchased with hopes to live off grid. If you have good sun exposure, and/or a decent source of water allowing micro/pico hydro you could probably achieve it and many seem to manage with minimal electricity for the essential lights and low-consumption items.
We chose to buy with electricity connected but hopes to work towards less and less reliance on 'the grid'.
Becoming sustainably and effectively off-grid is not a cheap option in terms of initial equipment costs and this need to be looked at carefully. If your budget in 30k you can pick up a moderate sized plot, with ruin for renovation and (must have) adequate. But as others have warned even recently in our area ex-pats and land-based dwellers with vans/motor caravans/other motorized but 'permanently parked' vehicles have just been hit-up for any 'breaches' they may be committing. The GNR have (by reports) ne helpful enough -- but the days of just plopping yourself on a patch of land hoping to build a cob house in due course are not so realistic as they were (that was our 'first choice' too!) -- Obviously things may vary between Camaras and how 'difficult' they make life fr you seems to vary -- though you do need to do your homework and know what is acceptable in the area you are considering!


----------



## pawpaw1000

Hi All,

I have something along the same lines:

I'm looking to buy a piece of land and build put one of those Risticasa.pt type houses on it. Would then like to have Solar and own water but my main question is, if there is a ruin on a piece of land, Can I instead put up one of these wooden houses?

Anyone already put up one of those houses? I see the go for around 40k depending on the type so I'm budgeting 80k with installation etc. Am I being naive?

Thanks


----------



## Strontium

pawpaw1000 said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I have something along the same lines:
> 
> I'm looking to buy a piece of land and build put one of those Risticasa.pt type houses on it. Would then like to have Solar and own water but my main question is, if there is a ruin on a piece of land, Can I instead put up one of these wooden houses?
> 
> Anyone already put up one of those houses? I see the go for around 40k depending on the type so I'm budgeting 80k with installation etc. Am I being naive?
> 
> Thanks



Yes







you would need full planning permission complying with current building regulations which your architect/lawyer/builder could only apply for after you owned the property and even then it could be refused so leaving you with a ruin, no permission and a large bill.


----------

