Brexit is a confusing thing that has created more questions than answers. For a lot of people who planned to spend more time in Europe, it has thrown plans into disarray or, at the very least, just made everything more complex. One of the questions that many people have is whether or not they can still buy property here, which this article will look at.
Yes, Brits Can Still Buy Property in Portugal
The good news is that: yes, even though the UK has left the EU, you can still buy a property in Portugal. Portugal does not restrict foreign ownership.
That’s the good news.
But There Are Visiting Limits
The bad news is that, post Brexit, there are limits on how long UK passport holders can stay in the Schengen Travel Area, which Portugal is a part of. UK passport holders can typically stay 90 days in every 180 days in the Schengen Area, including Portugal. That means that within a 180-day period, you can spend up to 90 days in Portugal.
If you only plan to visit Portugal for a week here and there, the 90/180-day rule may not make a difference to you. If, however, you were thinking of coming to Portugal for long stretches of time, then it would make a difference. You couldn’t come for 6 months in winter, for example. You could come for 3 months in a row, but then you would have to leave for another 3 months.
If you’d planned to winter in your Algarve villa and spend summers in the UK, then this will affect your plans slightly. You can still come for up to 90 days and then another 90 days later in the year, but it might be frustrating if you were planning on spending a full 6 months in a row here.
Ways Around This
There are a couple of ways that you could spend longer in Portugal.
The first is to gain residency, which basically means moving to Portugal. Portugal has a number of appealing residency visas, such as the D7 and Digital Nomad Visa, aimed at those that have a passive income (such as a pension) in the case of the D7 or those that work remotely in the case of the digital nomad visa.
These visas are not only very attainable for Brits but allow you to apply for Portuguese citizenship after living here for 5 years, allowing you to obtain an “EU passport.” Since both the UK and Portugal allow dual citizenship, you won’t have to give up your British passport.
There’s also the golden visa, and one of the routes to qualifying for this is by purchasing an eligible property in Portugal (prices start from €280,000). The benefit of going down this particular route is not only do you get a property in Portugal but you get residency as well, meaning that you can qualify for Portuguese citizenship after 5 years. The big difference between this visa and others like the D7 or nomad visa is that the golden visa only requires you to spend an average of 7 days per year in Portugal whereas the other visas require you to spend 6-8 months here. So if you’re looking for something with a little more flexibility, buying a property for the golden visa is worth investigating.
