bons

I started looking at land, then land with ruins, now I only look at house on idealista whcih states 'good condition'. These houses sometimes need a bit of internal cosmetic work and are habitable right now. Some have land with them, but usually in central Portugal.

All from advice and people's experiences on here I must add.

Moses2013

Well said and the way it looks is that we're heading for a crisis, or are in the middle of one. Although we ended up buying and building in Spain instead of Portugal, the way things are done are similar. Right now everyone is on holiday and you need an architect to submit a project to really know what they want. Luckily we had Urban land with all connections available but even then many things were changed like how the wall should look, what type of materials etc. Then you still don't know if everything is legal (deeds, outstanding fees and so on).

suiko

Thanks. I shall certainly check on the building's status. It isn't a complete must to extend it - just would add more possibilities, and could be a project I could take on in a few years' time.

In general terms, how difficult is it to change a building's status to "habitation"?

macliam

The building would have to conform to all planning rules for a habitable building..... which is unlikely without extensive work. Given that Camaras make it very difficult to do self-build, that would still mean all the costs, etc. of a project and a "professional" build.

Rambling archer

A note on the "storeroom" - size maybe "3 x 2 m" - as I understand it a building of under 10 m square for gardening or agricultural storage does not have to have planning permission BUT may not be incorporated into "habitation" at a later date without a major Change of Use - so beware on that.
If the house is TINY you may want to extend beyond its current footprint so you will need to employ an engineer-surveyor to plan out the plot and the percentage of the land that is allowed to be converted to housing, and thus if your planned house can be approved, and then you will need a qualified engineer-architect to draw up the plans of the house you intent to have, then submit that plan (with the approval on sizing incorporated) to the Camara for approval for Habitation License if suitable, and to go on for planning permission for the actual build. None of that can you do yourself as you have to use Certified Qualified person from recognised firms to do it officially. Also concerned is access to water mains, electricity, and the dreaded DRAINS and/or sewage system.
Then when the Architect's bit is approved, you have to employ a recognised Building Firm (Certified and Qualified) to submit his actual building specs to the Camara before work can commence.
Needless to say there is a charge for each of these three steps.
So far we have found that the builder (project manager) may be the best person to direct you to all these various experts and the paths to take through the Camara process.
If there ARE two escrituras, I believe there will always be two, but they can be linked in an official way on the cadastral system when the planning and license is sorted out. What is the size of the plot because that can have a considerable influence on all of this.

When we bought a 1980s smallish house that we knew we would build a garage onto, we discovered that it did not have the necessary Habitation License done at the end of the original construction because in the '80s nobody bothered with that kind of thing!! But although it took a couple of months to sort out (with the proviso written into our Promissary Contract on paying the deposit for the house) it went through the Camara without further complication - done at the expense of the seller (at the insistence of our Estate Agent), who should have got it done before they put it on the market!!!! We had already lined up our Builder and took his advice as well. In your case, since it sounds like it is hardly habitable anyway? perhaps forego the bother of a Habitation License but take serious advice first before taking that step and make very sure that the site of the property DOES allow building for habitation (and not agricultural !!!) and even talk to the Camara Planning Dept people to confirm that it will be OK. Which also gives you an introduction for when you start the actual planning process.

suiko

Thanks, and sorry for the late reply... lots going on!

The storeroom is actually 30 square metres, in a garden which is 70 metres in total. It is on the same water and electricity metering as the main house, but there are separate escrituras.

I wonder whether the cost of all these professional services - how much might that be? - would be worth it for what would in the end be a very small extension anyway (maybe 10 or 12 sq m?). I guess building another storey would be a whole different ball game as regards permits?

I don't think the seller would be interested in paying to change it to a habitation license as he's selling it as a "garden with garage".

I guess as an alternative I could always rent out the house at peak seasons and live in the storeroom :-)