Condomínio in Portugal: rules, fees and resolving disputes

In short: A Portuguese condomínio is not a company you can ignore — it is a legal regime, propriedade horizontal, set out in articles 1414 to 1438-A of the Código Civil and fleshed out by Decreto-Lei n.º 268/94, both reshaped by Lei n.º 8/2022. Each owner holds their flat outright and co-owns the common parts, must pay a share of the costs, and is bound by decisions of the assembleia de condóminos taken by the right majority. Unpaid quotas are enforceable straight from the assembly minutes, and unlawful decisions can be challenged — but only within tight deadlines. CourtStairs answers Portuguese housing questions like these in plain language, with citations to the Diário da República so you can read the article yourself.

If you own an apartment in Portugal, you are automatically a condómino. This post explains what you owe, how the assembly decides, what happens when someone stops paying, and the routes for resolving a dispute — in plain English, for expats, foreigners and Portuguese readers who search in English. This is general information, not legal advice, and figures and rules change, so confirm anything important against the primary source or a lawyer.

What do you own in a Portuguese condomínio?

Under art. 1414 of the Código Civil, propriedade horizontal splits a building into autonomous fractions (frações autónomas) that can be owned separately, plus common parts owned jointly by everyone. Art. 1420 makes the point that matters most: each owner is the exclusive owner of their fraction and a co-owner of the common parts — and the two rights are inseparable. You cannot keep the flat and walk away from the roof.

Art. 1421 lists what is imperatively common: the soil, foundations, main (load-bearing) walls, the roof, entrances, stairs, corridors of common use, and the general installations for water, electricity, gas and drainage. Other parts — like a lift or an internal garden — are presumed common unless the constitutive title says otherwise.

What are a condómino's obligations for costs and conduct?

The core money rule is art. 1424: expenses for conserving and enjoying the common parts are shared by the owners in proportion to the value (permilagem) of their fractions, unless the constitutive title provides a different split. Lei n.º 8/2022 clarified a fairness point that used to cause fights: expenses relating to a common part that only serves some owners — the textbook case is a lift that skips the ground floor — are borne only by those it serves. Costs of using a service (like the electricity a lift consumes) can be shared according to actual use.

Money is only half of it. Art. 1422 sets conduct limits: owners may not harm the building's safety, its structural lines or its external appearance, may not put a fraction to a use different from the one it is meant for, and may not carry out activities the constitutive title or the assembly has forbidden. Break these and neighbours can act.

What majority does the condominium assembly need to decide?

Most decisions pass by a majority of the votes present, weighted by each fraction's permilagem (art. 1432), but the bar rises with the stakes: major "innovations" need two-thirds of the building's value (art. 1425), and changing the constitutive title needs all owners (art. 1419). Common parts are run by two organs (art. 1430): the assembleia de condóminos (all owners) and the administrador who executes its decisions. The ordinary assembly meets in the first fortnight of January to approve the previous year's accounts and the coming year's budget (art. 1431); it can also be called at any time by the administrator or by owners representing at least 25% of the invested capital.

Decisions are taken by a majority of the votes present, counted by permilagem — not by a headcount (art. 1432). But the size of the majority scales with how serious the decision is.

There is also a quorum. On first call, the assembly can only deliberate if owners representing more than half the building's value are present; if that is not met, it can reconvene — as the convocation usually provides, half an hour later — and then decide with those present (art. 1432). Convocation must reach owners in advance and in writing; keep the notice, because a decision taken without proper convocation can be attacked.

What happens when a condómino stops paying the quotas?

This is where the 2022 reform bit hardest. The minutes (ata) of the assembly that fixed the contributions are, under art. 6 of Decreto-Lei n.º 268/94, an enforceable title (título executivo) against an owner who fails to pay by the deadline — provided the minutes record the amount of the contributions, each owner's share and the payment date. Interest at the legal rate and any penalty the assembly approved (or the regulations set) are covered too.

What that means in practice: the administrator does not have to win a full declaratory trial to prove the debt exists. They can go straight to an enforcement action (ação executiva) to seize assets. And Lei n.º 8/2022 turned this into a duty: the administrator must file within 90 days of the first default, without a separate assembly vote, whenever the debt is at least the value of the IAS (indexante dos apoios sociais).

1. Assembly fixes the amountsThe ata records the contributions, each owner's share (permilagem) and the payment date — the elements that make it a título executivo (art. 6, DL 268/94).
2. Owner defaultsA quota goes unpaid past the deadline. Interest and any approved penalty start to run.
3. Administrator must actWhere the debt reaches the IAS, the administrator files within 90 days of the first default — no separate authorisation needed (Lei 8/2022).
4. Enforcement actionBecause the minutes are enforceable, the case goes as an ação executiva, skipping a full trial on whether the debt exists.
5. RecoveryThe court can order seizure of the debtor's assets to satisfy the quotas, interest and costs.

How do you challenge or resolve a condominium dispute?

Not every fight is about money. When you think a decision breaks the law or the condominium's own regulations, art. 1433 gives a graduated set of routes — and each has a deadline. A decision contrary to law or regulations is voidable (anulável) at the request of any owner who did not vote for it.

For many everyday condominium disputes, the Julgados de Paz (justices of the peace) are a lower-cost, faster alternative to the ordinary courts — see our guide to small claims and the Julgados de Paz — and the administrator has standing to sue and be sued on the condominium's behalf for matters within their powers (art. 1437). Whichever route you take, the clock in art. 1433 is unforgiving, and separate prescription (limitation) periods can also cut off the right to recover older debts.

Where CourtStairs fits

This is exactly the kind of question CourtStairs is built for: it takes a plain-language question — "do I have to pay for the lift?", "can they really seize my flat over quotas?", "how long do I have to challenge this vote?" — and answers it with the specific article behind it: art. 1420 for co-ownership, 1424 and 1425 for cost-sharing and majorities, 1432 for how the assembly decides, 1433 for challenging decisions, and art. 6 of DL 268/94 for the enforceable minutes. It works in English and Portuguese and links each point to the Diário da República so you can confirm it yourself.

This is general information about the law, not legal advice. Condominium rules turn on your building's constitutive title and regulations, older buildings can follow transitional regimes, and the law changes — Lei n.º 8/2022 reshaped several of these rules from April 2022 — so treat this as a starting point and confirm anything important against the primary source or a lawyer.