direito de preferência
Published 4 November 2026, 21:42
direito de preferência (right of first refusal)
The right to buy something ahead of an outside buyer and on the same terms. A tenant gains it once they have rented the home for more than two years: if the landlord decides to sell, the landlord must send the tenant a registered letter setting out the terms of the sale, and the tenant has 30 days to reply (article 1091.º of the Civil Code; the threshold was cut from three years to two by Lei n.º 64/2018 and has been in force since 30 October 2018). The right does not give you a discount — the price is the same as the one offered to the outside buyer; it simply puts you first in the queue.
Where you come across it. A letter from the landlord about selling the flat you rent; buying a home with sitting tenants; waiting before the escritura while public bodies with their own right to buy reply.
The right applies only to a sale or when a home is handed over to settle a debt (dação em cumprimento). Gifts, exchanges and inheritance are not covered. If you do not reply within 30 days, you lose the right, and the only recourse left is the courts.
Official website: diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/decreto-lei/1966-34509075