BellaOscar

Hi All
I'm a newbie to the site, I read the car importing thread but my situation is a bit different. My plan is to become a resident in Portugal (I'll be buying a house there) and to have had a van converted to a tiny home. I would rather buy the van here in the UK as there's loads of the type of van I need and they're relatively cheap, it would be easier for me to have it converted here, but I won't be able to actually live properly in Portugal for a couple of years so I would rather have my tiny home before that and then drive it over. I don't think the timing would work out from what I read on here about the resident's import tax, I would miss the six month window. My questions are that I hope you can kindly help me with;

1) Am I definitely allowed to bring it over permanently, ie there isn't a time limit when I would have to change it over to a different vehicle? I don't' mind changing the number plates etc. just not the actual van! (It's a 3.5 ton Luton which would apparently still be ok for the Portuguese licence as opposed to a bigger vehicle.)
2) Does this mean that I would have to pay thousands in import tax and does anyone know the amount / where I can research this to find out the actual amount for the type of van please?

Many thanks!

dingg

You would need a certificate of conformity from the manufacturer to get it matriculated, if you have changed it substantially as you suggest the certificate will not reflect the vehicle anymore and it will fail the test.

You either need to buy one over here or buy a lhd one in the UK then import that.

If the door to the side of the van is on the wrong side it will not be allowed.

Hth

BellaOscar

Thank you so much for your reply Hth!

I guess you are in Portugal? So you mean I either need to buy one over there - and assuming lhd is left hand drive - does that mean if I buy a lhd van in the UK I wouldn't have a problem with the matriculation (I don't really know what that is! Some kind of test?) but would still have the hefty import fees?

Does buying a lhd van (from either country) solve the van door issue too?
Many thanks!

dingg

Matriculation is getting a vehicle onto Portuguese plates, you're only allowed 6 months on foreign plates. It does involve an inspection.

The van must be as made no substantial changes can be done as that wouldn't be reflected on the coc which you need from the manufacturer.

Lhd would ensure that the side door opened on the safe side of the van.

Yes in Portugal.

riv

I think I read somewhere that there are people who will deliver to your stipulated address a shipping container ( which people then adapt to live in ).

I imagine they need planning permission ~does anyone have experience ?

macliam

The use of containers as "buildings" seems to be an issue. I know of a "green" company who actually used offices created from containers in the next municipality, but a local businessman who wanted to do similar was turned down flat. He then wanted to use the containers to create a house and was refused permission for that too.... He was so frustrated by the process that he was seriously thinking about building a moonlight house.... waiting for a bank holiday weekkend, creating his house and then declaring it as a fait accompli and paying any fines....

With regard to the OP, the lack of knowledge displayed suggests they need to actually find out the Portuguese regulations.... and how they might be applied in the area they choose to live. Blue-sky thinking frequently meets Portuguese regulation. It's usually a costly failure.....

liveaboard

Consider a big trailer instead.

BillBullock

The Olhão Câmara has started issuing letters to people who have constructed homes out of timber, containers etc, telling them they are illegal and will have to be demolished. People have been under the impression that you can put whatever you like on your land without applying to the Câmara for permission to build, probably because the person/estate agent who sold them the land misled them. A Dutch man near me was misled by his estate agent but now has to demolish his holiday home hand-built with timber with a bathroom in an adjoining container. A German living in a caravan, with metal sheds and a plastic fossa, has also received his letter from the Câmara, as has the person who was building a monstrosity of a home with 2 shipping containers flanking a timber structure. Most of the offenders in our area are ex-pats.

EsuriJohn

In the east Algarve over the last 5yrs or so there have sprung up 2 encampments close to the motorway and very visible. Judging by the assortment of vehicles and carts I would say they are Romanies. They start with a van and some tarpaulin/plastic extensions the move onto wooden sheds and even more substantial metal structures. I doubt any have permanent foundations or sewer connections. May be borrowing electricity from nearby rural light poles and water from agricultural sources. They are still expanding and no enforcement action seems to be curtailing them.

Ingles

Not too far from myself , a PT Family put a 20' alongside a 40' & had no problems at all from Alcobaça Camara

BillBullock

Sounds like Romanies. They seem to get away with anything. Everyone is afraid to do stand up to them because of human rights I suspect.

macliam

Enforcement is always the issue...... if you've got little to lose, then it's more difficult for the authorities to act. If anyone remembers Lisbon in the 80s, there were "barracas" all around the airport - and there was an active program to eradicate them.... but it took years to move people out and demolish them. Even now, there are illegal buildings in the suburbs that look more like something out of a third-world country (e.g. the "Jamaica" bairro in Seixal), but again, slowly, these are being eradicated.

Reports of so-and-so doing X and nobody does anything can be temporary aberrations..... no action being taken doesn't make a building legal or preclude future action. So, like any illegal activity, there is a chance it will escape penalization for a time.... but that doesn't help if you have invested in the property and then find it unsaleable or liable to huge fines or to demolition. On a different matter, someone near us drove a foreign registered car in the area for years without issue. Then, one day, they went shopping and returned to their car to find the fiscal police all over it.... and the issues started. They no longer live in Portugal.

BillBullock

This is that monstrosity of an illegal home I mentioned in my earlier post.

liveaboard

I have 2 sea containers [not used or usable as habitation] and a large American caravan under a roof on poles.
A neighbor is hosting a couple in a couple of camper vans for years.
Another neighbor bought a plot and lives on it in his camper van for years.

If the OP is buying a house and puts some object near it to live in during construction / reconstruction, he'll surely be left alone, although technically it's illegal.

BellaOscar

This appears to be a very supportive group designed for people to support each other, and it's fascinating to find out everyone's experiences of the numerous issues involved in being an expat abroad. It's hard to know how to research each topic on the internet when one is dealing with a country one is new to (especially in the early stages, not having mastered the language yet!). Patronising comments are uncalled for.