There are many doubts about the installation and licensing of prefabricated, modular or mobile homes. We explain the legal basis.

Prefabricated house fever is here to stay. It's no longer just a trend, but a real estate reality in Portugal. There are more and more projects and companies dedicated to this segment, which is now seen as an alternative to traditional masonry - also due to the price and speed of assembly. Even so, the construction of prefabricated, modular or mobile homes still raises many questions in terms of licensing.
Prefabricated houses, modular houses or ‘mobile homes’ (or houses on wheels) are typical of a reality that has seen a great deal of growth recently, given the movement of people from cities to the countryside, for example, combined with the ease with which they can be dismantled and/or transported to another location. Not to mention the substantially lower average selling prices than a masonry house and the speed of assembly.

Experts point out, however, that it's not all upside, since although for many users the value for money is worth the investment, in reality these houses are more subject to natural phenomena due to the type of materials used in their construction and their lesser robustness compared to ordinary properties. On the other hand, their more or less temporary permanence on a given plot of land does not exempt them from paying rent for their use.


Licensing of prefabricated or modular houses

Regardless of the purpose or reason behind the purchase of these houses, it is common to have doubts about the applicable regime and, more specifically, the fact that they are (not) subject to urban planning licensing. The question is not exactly new or unreasonable, since it is not unheard of for the website of the construction company or the advertisement for the sale of a second-hand house with these characteristics by its owner to disclose the (apparent) exemption from municipal licensing, and later to raise an administrative offense for violation of urban planning law.

The starting point for the answer to this question can be found in article 2 of the Urbanization and Edification Legal Regime, paragraph b) of which defines construction work as the creation of new buildings. By building, the same law means the activity or result of the construction, reconstruction, extension, alteration or conservation of a property intended for human use, as well as any other construction that is permanently incorporated into the soil.

From this classification, it is essential that, on the one hand, the property in question is classified as immovable and intended for human use and, on the other, that it is permanently attached to the ground (through columns, foundations or piles).

Although modular houses are first made from blocks in a factory and are only built on site, it is true that only at a later stage will they be incorporated into the ground (either by erecting a concrete base, metal piles or any other seating structures), thus acquiring the classification of immovable property. As a result, the erection of these houses is equivalent to a construction project and an urban planning operation for which, prior to the start of their assembly on the ground, municipal licensing is required, regardless of whether the ground consists of a rustic building or part of an urban building.




Source: Idealista/News
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