Urban or Agricultural?

We have had some sad news from a friend this week. They found out that the property they purchased in Portugal was agricultural land and the building ruin AND wooden cabin on the land were illegal. The local camara (government) is permitting them to stay in the wooden cabin for now, probably because it still has wheels or it isn't considered a permanent structure.

How did this happen? Non-Portuguese folks sadly often purchase cheap land with a ruin, believing they can put in sweat equity and have a lovely future home. They don't realize the odd history of these cheap land lots. They believe anything the real estate agents tell them.

In the past, all land was "urban" or "rural". You could only live/reside on urban land. To avoid paying lots of taxes, farms would only make the smallest footprint of the house "urban". Illegal structures would be built, or the main building would be built on to illegally. Now we have Google Maps Satellite images, and the government can now see what has been illegally built without ever visiting.

So when purchasing property, you have to look for a house with urban license, or agricultural land with a urban licensed house, or an urban licensed ruin.  Any ruin built before 1954 and listed in governmental books is grandfathered in. You can attempt to change the permissions on land with the local government, but it's a giant pain in the butt.

So our friend now finds that her wooden cabin is illegally on agricultural land. The ruin is very small and the add-on sections are illegal. Any improvements they want to do would be illegal.

Our little farm is under the same rules. It is agricultural in a neighborhood of other small farm lots. The building is NOT urban. None of them are in the area. It was built in 1964. It is bigger than tool-sheds and barns should be. We bought it knowing we can never live in it full time. It can never have an address, no mail service. It can never be hooked up to the electric utilities. It can never have city sewage. It can never house anyone full time. We understand that the local camara (government) can come and ask us to tear it all down.

We have no plans to expand. We do not want it to be a house or expect it to be a house. It is a super-garden, with place to eat a lunch, lock up tools, start seeds. It's great to take a shower after getting dirty in the garden. It is where a family can come out and barbeque on the weekend. They can work the olive trees, make wine. One day we want to purchase a "real" house or apartment in the nearby village where we can be legal residents. I am very thankful we did our research.

Which brings us to sad story number two. A British family we watch on Youtube has been denied a digital nomad visa to Portugal. During Brexit they decided to stay in the EU and bought wild agricultural land in the Castelo Branco district. It is timber land, where the "farm" isn't normal farming, it's timber. There is a small ruin on the land and they claim it's licensed urban.

They state that they meet all the requirements to get the D7 visa to obtain a temporary residence permit. They have monthly income from a non-Portugal source. They have housing, they have years worth of tax-returns showing income.

But I do question the housing. Living "off-grid" in a RV camper while the ruin is not remodeled probably doesn't meet housing requirements in the EU. No real address, no mailbox, no electric utilities, no sewer etc. I understand their frustration- other youtuber's from EU countries with EU passports buy land and do the same thing and seem to have a fun time of it. They live in their RV's on agricultural land and unless the local neighbors complain, they continue with no problems.

The future is going to be an interesting crossroad. Portugal and Spain both are cracking down on people living illegally on agricultural land, in houses that do not meet code. They need the tax money from "real" houses and are concerned about human safety. At the same time, off-grid technologies are expanding and soon many city buildings could be off-grid. Off-grid technologies such as those for water conservation, lower energy use and sustainability could be bringing composting toilets, gray water collection and biogas to suburbs and downtown.

The only problem is, that day isn't today. There is still stigma towards those living in mobile housing, shacks, campsites, tents, mud huts and old agricultural sheds. The very thing I love- adobe built houses, cobb, timberframe houses, solar power and humanure, isn't ready for the mainstream just yet. Getting government approval takes time and often they need to think it's their great idea and they came up with it.

In the meantime folks... do your homework before investing your pennies. Learn the laws and how to use them to your benefit.  Good luck out there.