Decree-Law 87/2026 of 15 April (DL 87/2026) came into force on 16 April. Among other regimes, it approved the amendments to Laws 78/2017 of 17 August and 65/2019 of 23 August. The former established the simplified land cadastre information system (“SICS”) and the one-stop shop for land and property registration (“BUPi”), while the latter extended the SICS and BUPi to municipalities without a land cadastre in force (“Law 65/2019”)
The most important changes introduced by DL 87/2026 are:
- Adjustments to the special procedure for registering rural or mixed properties that were omitted from the property tax register. The Tax Authority is now obliged to notify the Institute of Registries and Notaries of submitted applications and their details, to confirm whether or not a property description exists. This enables the applicant of the tax inscription to begin the special registration procedure, to obtain a georeferenced graphic representation (“RGG”) of the property (if it is registered in the non-cadastral register), or to declare who owns the property.
- Introduction of a new special procedure for the merger of rural properties, enabling the subsequent land registry applications to be submitted directly at the BUPi counter.
- The requirement to state the RGG number of rural and mixed properties (i) in all documents formalizing acts or transactions relating to the transfer of right of ownership, (ii) in the registration of acquisition, merger and demerger of properties, (iii) in the procedures provided for in Articles 7-D (procedure for the registration of rural properties omitted from the property tax register) and 7-E (procedure for altering the area of a rural property registered in the property tax register) of Law 65/2019, applicable to properties situated in municipalities without a land cadastre in force, and (iv) in administrative procedures required before any public authority which result in a change to the geometric configuration of the property. This requirement does not apply where (a) the property is already registered in the property cadastral register; (b) the RGG information can be obtained through a BUPi search; (c) the documents formalizing acquisition of right of ownership through enforcement or insolvency proceedings; or (d) a prior declaration of public utility has been issued.
- The requirement to attach the RGG to the procedures for applying for, allocating or granting financial support, subsidies, incentives or co-financing relating to rural or mixed properties.
- The extension of the regime of exemption from fees and taxes to acts and procedures relating to rural or mixed properties with an area of 50 hectares or less, as well as to those provided for in Article 14 of Law 65/2019, until 30 September 2026.
- Exemption from fees for the administrative conciliation procedure, if carried out by 30 September 2026.
- Reaffirmation of the possibility of registering rural or mixed properties in the cadastral records, whenever information resulting from the RGG is validated by all adjacent property owners, via data interoperability with the Directorate-General for Territory. The purpose of this is to integrate property information into the cadastral records by converting the RGG into a geometric configuration.
- Expansion of the range of private entities that may carry out RGG operations and have access to information shared on the BUPi, in pursuit of public objectives and duties (such as entities that promote and manage integrated landscape management areas (AIGP).
- Qualified technicians appointed by public bodies with competence to execute operations of georeferenced graphic representation are granted the power to verify documents submitted in the RGG procedure against original documents presented as part of the special registration procedure and of the special procedures for justification and merger under Laws 78/2017 and 65/2019, respectively.
- The deadlines for the public consultation procedure were reconfigured to clarify the respective processes.
- RGGs relating to property in the private domain of the State, the Autonomous Regions, local authorities and public institutes must be completed by 31 December 2027.
The preamble to Decree-Law 87/2026 expresses the hope that these amendments will clarify some of the existing legal provisions, and that the new measures introduced here will contribute actively to achieving the objectives of the SICS and the BUPi: identifying the land tenure structure of rural and mixed properties in municipalities without a land cadastre, identifying the respective owners, and using BUPi as an integrated platform to enable interoperability between public bodies and services.