Right of first refusal: What is it and who does it apply to?

It is a right that decides priorities when buying or selling a property. The law obliges the seller to give preference to the person or public entity that has priority in buying the property.

Let's say you want to sell a house and it's been rented out for three years. The tenant, who lives there, has priority in buying it. The owner must notify the tenant that he wants to sell the property, indicating the value. This notice must be sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, with a deadline of thirty days from the date of receipt, so that they can exercise their right of first refusal.

As well as tenants, this right also has implications at a public level, i.e. public bodies such as the State, local councils, autonomous regions and the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage also have priority when buying and selling a property, with the aim of carrying out urban regeneration or protecting heritage. 

The areas where the right of first refusal is applied in the “urban pressure zones” are usually areas of the city where there are more difficulties in accessing housing. There are currently three municipalities that have defined urban pressure zones: Lisbon, Setúbal and Cascais. Indicators related to housing values, family income values and housing shortages were used to make this classification. 

How do you know if your property is covered by the Right of Preference?

You can access this information by going to the website of the town hall where the property in question is located. It may be possible for the address to be on another list, such as that of the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage, for example.

You can access this information by going to the page of the town hall where the property in question is located. It is also possible that the address is on the list of another entity, such as the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage.

Although Urbibarra - Promotor Imobiliário offers houses for sale, our mission is to contribute to the sharing of all topics in the real estate sector, which can help our residents as well as all Portuguese people.