The Licença de Utilização in Portugal in 2026 — A Practical Guide to the Habitation Use Licence, the 2024 Simplex Urbanístico Shift to a Termo de Responsabilidade, the Pre-1951 Exemption, and How It Differs From the Caderneta and Registo Predial

If you are buying, selling, renting or registering a property for short-term letting in Portugal, sooner or later someone — a bank, a notary, a buyer, a tenant — will ask about the licença de utilização (use licence), the document that says a building may legally be used for what it is being used for. It is one of the most misunderstood pieces of Portuguese property paperwork, partly because a 2024 reform quietly changed how it works while leaving the old name in everyone's mouth. This guide explains what it is in 2026, when you actually need it, how to get one or a copy, and how it differs from the other documents it is constantly confused with.

What the licença de utilização actually is

The licença de utilização — since the 2024 reform more correctly the autorização de utilização (use authorisation), and colloquially the licença de habitação when the purpose is residential — is the act by which the Câmara Municipal (municipal council) certifies that a building, or an autonomous fraction of it (an apartment, a shop), may lawfully be used for a specific purpose. It confirms three things: that the finished building matches the approved project, that it complies with urban-planning, safety and health rules, and that it is fit for its intended use.

Its legal home is the Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação (RJUE, the Legal Framework for Urbanisation and Building), approved by Decree-Law 555/99 and heavily amended since. The four standard purposes are habitação (housing), comércio (retail and restaurants), serviços (offices and practices) and indústria (workshops, warehouses, factories). The purpose matters: a licence for housing does not authorise you to run a shop, and switching between them is a formal step in its own right.

The 2024 change everyone should know about

On 4 March 2024 the "Simplex urbanístico" reform (Decree-Law 10/2024) came into force and rewired this process. For new works subject to municipal control, the old model — apply, wait for a council inspection (vistoria), receive a formal licence — was largely replaced. Under the new Article 62.º-A of the RJUE, use of a building now generally depends on delivering to the council a termo de responsabilidade (statement of responsibility) signed by the project's works director or supervision director, confirming the work was completed according to the approved plans. There is usually no longer a mandatory inspection before you can occupy.

Two paths follow. For lower-complexity works, use can begin as soon as the termo de responsabilidade is delivered. For more complex works it runs through a comunicação prévia (prior communication) with a 20-day period: once 20 days pass without the council flagging a problem, the property may be used. The reform also strengthened deferimento tácito (tacit approval): if the council misses its legal deadline, the request is deemed granted, and you can pull a free electronic certificate through the ePortugal portal proving it.

When you actually need it in 2026

This is where the reform trips people up. Since the Mais Habitação (2023) and Simplex (2024) changes, the licença de utilização is no longer legally required to sign the deed (escritura) of a sale. In practice, though, you still need it: banks generally will not grant a mortgage without it or an equivalent, and prudent buyers demand to see it. So for most transactions it remains effectively essential, even if the law no longer forces it onto the notary's desk.

• Selling: Not strictly required at the deed, but expect the buyer's bank to ask for it.
• Renting: The lease should reference the use authorisation and its purpose; it can be required to formalise the contract in certain cases.
• Utilities (water, electricity, gas): The provider needs a valid occupation title (ownership, usufruct or a lease); historically they asked for the licence number specifically. Have it to hand.
• Alojamento Local (short-term rental): Firmly required. The prior notification to the council must include a valid use authorisation, and the property's licensed use must be compatible with tourist letting.
• Change of use (e.g. shop to home): A formal step — a 20-day comunicação prévia if no building works are involved, or full licensing (months) if there are. You then update the tax record and the land registry.

How it differs from the documents it is confused with

Four other documents get muddled with the use licence. The distinctions are worth memorising, because agents and sellers often use the wrong word:

• Licença de construção / alvará de obras — permission to build or renovate. It comes at the start of the process; the use authorisation comes at the end. Different phase, different document.
• Certidão permanente do registo predial — the legal ownership record from the Land Registry (Conservatória): who owns the property and what mortgages or charges sit on it. Valid six months.
• Caderneta predial urbana — the tax record from the Autoridade Tributária (Tax Authority): the property's fiscal identity and its VPT (taxable value), which drives IMI, IMT and stamp duty.
• Certificado energético — the energy rating (A+ to F), issued by a qualified assessor via ADENE.

The one-line version: the registry proves who owns it, the caderneta proves its tax status, the use licence proves it may legally be lived in or worked in, and the energy certificate proves how efficient it is. Note one asymmetry that catches sellers out — unlike the use licence, the energy certificate is still legally mandatory to advertise, sell or let a home, with fines reported to ADENE if you skip it.

The pre-1951 exemption

Buildings constructed before 7 August 1951 are exempt from needing a use authorisation. That date marks the entry into force of the Regulamento Geral das Edificações Urbanas (RGEU, the General Regulation on Urban Buildings), which first introduced municipal building licensing. For an older property, instead of a licence the owner obtains a certidão de isenção (certificate of exemption) from the council, attesting that the building predates the RGEU — usually proven by a land-registry or tax entry showing the construction year.

Two cautions. The exemption only holds if the building has not since been reconstructed, extended or altered in a way that required control; later works can lose it. And in some parishes that were not the council seat in 1951, the reference date differs, so check locally rather than assuming.

Getting a copy, or fixing a missing licence

To obtain a copy of an existing licence, apply to the Câmara Municipal where the property sits — in person at the urbanism counter or through the council's online portal — with enough detail to identify the property (the licence number, or a marked location plan) plus the caderneta predial, and pay the fee. Where the original is illegible, councils typically issue a certificate within about ten days.

If a property has no licence at all, it must be regularised (legalização): confirm viability with the council, hire an architect or engineer to prepare a legalisation project and technical report, submit the request, and — in this case an inspection often does still happen — obtain the authorisation. Occupying, selling or letting without one is a breach of the RJUE that can bring fines running from the hundreds of euros into far higher sums for serious cases, alongside an embargo, an order to stop using the property, and in the worst instances demolition. Paying a fine does not excuse you from legalising.

Costs and timing

There is no national price: each council sets its own tabela de taxas (fee schedule). As a rough guide, a new use procedure tends to fall somewhere between a few hundred and around €1,600, while a simple copy or certificate of an existing licence is usually in the €6–€60 range. Always check your specific município's table. On timing, the use step itself is either immediate on the termo de responsabilidade or the 20-day prior-communication window; where full works licensing is involved, legal deadlines run in working days — commonly around 120 for smaller projects and 150 for medium ones — after which tacit approval can kick in.

A related document: the Ficha Técnica de Habitação

Do not confuse the use licence with the Ficha Técnica de Habitação (FTH, Housing Technical Sheet), the "identity card" that lists a dwelling's technical characteristics, created by Decree-Law 68/2004. It is mandatory only for homes built, rebuilt or extended after March 2004, and — like the use licence — since January 2024 it no longer has to be presented at the deed. It still exists, though, and a careful buyer will ask for it during negotiations.

The practical checklist

• Buying: Ask for the use authorisation (or the pre-1951 exemption certificate) early — your bank will want it even though the notary no longer strictly needs it.
• Selling an older home: If it predates 7 August 1951, get the certidão de isenção from the council rather than chasing a licence that never existed.
• Letting short-term: Confirm the licensed use permits Alojamento Local before you register — this is one place the licence is non-negotiable.
• Changing use: Budget for a formal step and, where works are involved, months of licensing plus updates to the tax record and land registry.
• Missing paperwork: Regularise before you try to sell, rent or finance — an unlicensed property is hard to move and exposed to fines.
• Check locally: Fees, some reference dates and document lists are set council by council, so confirm with the specific Câmara Municipal.

The bottom line for 2026: the licença de utilização is no longer the formal, inspected certificate it once was, and it is no longer a legal must at the notary — but between banks, buyers, tenants and the short-term-rental rules, it remains a document you will almost certainly need to produce. Know which version of it applies to your property, and get it in order before the paperwork is under time pressure.